Equity benchmark indices opened lower on Wednesday following a bearish trend in the global markets as investors decided to stay on the sidelines ahead of the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes in the United States.
The 30-share Sensex slid 251.26 points to 61,730.53, capping a three-day rise. The Nifty fell 78.3 points to 18,269.70.
Among the Sensex companies, the top laggards were ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, and Tata Motors.
Among the winners were Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Tech Mahindra, ITC, and NTPC.
Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading down on Asian markets.
On Tuesday, the US stock market closed in the red.
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Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.91 percent to USD 77.54 a barrel.
According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) acquired securities worth Rs 182.51 crore.
Market players are anticipating the release of the FOMC meeting minutes on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the BSE benchmark closed at 61,981.79, up 18.11 points or 0.03 percent on Tuesday. The Nifty rose 33.60 points or 0.18 percent to18,348.
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