NSE & BSE fall in early trade after two days of rally

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices fell in early trade on Wednesday after two days of a rally as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the announcement of the US Fed interest rate decision later in the day. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 75.11 points to reach 63,068.05. The NSE Nifty dipped by 9.6 points to settle at 18,706.55.

Status of previous trading session

Climbing for the second straight session, the Sensex had jumped by 418.45 points or 0.67 percent to settle at 63,143.16 on Tuesday. The Nifty rose by 114.65 points or 0.62 percent to end at 18,716.15. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,677.60 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Position of stocks listed in BSE

From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Wipro and Larsen & Toubro were the major laggards. Tata Steel, Power Grid, Tata Motors, ITC, Nestle and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.

Performance of markets worldwide

In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong were trading lower, while Tokyo and Shanghai quoted in the green. The US markets ended in positive territory on Tuesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.09 percent to USD 74.36 a barrel.

"Investors will pay close attention to Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Chairman Jerome Powell's comments on the policy outlook. In case the Fed keeps rates unchanged, the feel-good factor could have a rub-off effect on benchmark Nifty that may help the index reach its all-time high," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

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