The Indian stock market opened flat on Wednesday as investors awaited the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. At 9:33 am, the Sensex stood at 80,651.44, down by 33.01 points or 0.04%, while the Nifty was at 24,328.75, falling by 7.25 points or 0.03%.
The overall market sentiment remained negative, with 882 stocks on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in the green and 1,306 stocks in the red.
Focus Shifts To US Fed’s Rate Decision
Global markets are closely monitoring the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, set to be announce later on Wednesday (US time). The market has already priced in a 25 basis point rate cut, and analysts expect the key focus to be on the Fed’s accompanying commentary. Experts noted that a significant trend in the Indian market is the outperformance of the broader market, where positive corporate results are being well-received, despite no signs of Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) selling.
The Nifty Bank index saw a decline of 152.85 points, or 0.29%, settling at 52,681.95. Meanwhile, the Nifty Midcap 100 index dropped by 0.34%, trading at 58,900.55, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index decreased by 0.27%, standing at 19,346.40.
Top Losers And Gainers On Sensex
Among the top losers in the Sensex pack were Tata Motors, Power Grid, L&T, Maruti, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement, SBI, and NTPC. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, TCS, ITC, Bharti Airtel, and M&M emerged as the top gainers.
Asian markets showed a mixed performance on Wednesday. While markets in China, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Jakarta traded in the green, markets in Japan and Bangkok faced losses.
In the US, stock markets closed lower in the previous session. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 ended 0.32% and 0.39% lower, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.61%.
FII Selling Affects Domestic Market Sentiment
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 6,409.86 crore in India on December 17, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,706.48 crore on the same day. Experts noted that the market’s near-term outlook has weakened, with FIIs turning sellers during rallies.
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