The consensus is that the Fed will leave rates unchanged, but investors are looking for commentary and guidance for the next interest rate hike.
Mirroring global weakness, the Sensex fell 111 points on Tuesday, halting its four-day winning run, and the NSE Nifty broke below the 8,800-mark as investors turned cautious ahead of key policy meetings of the US Federal
Reserve and Japanese central bank.
Meanwhile, the consensus is that the Fed will leave rates unchanged, but investors are looking for commentary and the guidance for the next interest rate hike. "Investors are widely expecting status quo on interest rate, however, any hawkish commentary from the Fed may divert the liquidity to safe haven assets and add volatility to the domestic market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
Meanwhile, calling the reform process slow and gradual with muted private investment and NPAs posing a challenge, Moody's said it could upgrade India's rating in 1-2 years if it is convinced that reforms are "tangible". In stock specific action, Jubilant FoodWorks plunged 6.08%to Rs 944.15 following news that its CEO and Whole-time Director Ajay Kaul will resign to pursue opportunities outside the company.
The 30-share index declined by 111.30 points or 0.39% to 28,523.20 after shuttling between 28,698.81 and 28,480.53. The gauge had gained 281 points in the previous four sessions on positive global cues. The wider NSE Nifty slipped below the 8,800-mark and hit a low of 8,759.30 before settling 32.50 points or 0.37% to 8,775.90. Intra-day, it touched a high of 8,816.45.
Market stayed in the negative almost throughout the day as participants were seen trimming positions to book profits in recent gainers coupled with caution across the global ahead of Fed and Bank of Japan policy meets this week.
In line with the overall trend, the small-cap index shed 0.26%, while the mid-cap lost 0.09%. Other Asian markets too closed lower and European shares were down as sentiment across the globe remained muted. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.16%, while China's Shanghai Index shed 0.10% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.08% down.
London's FTSE was down 0.20%, Frankfurt's DAX was flat, while France Paris CAC 40 was 0.30% lower.
Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 19 ended lower while 11 led by ONGC, Tata Steel, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki, Lupin, Power Grid, HDFC, Asian Paints and Dr Reddy's finished higher.
Hero MotoCorp suffered the most among Sensex constituents by plunging 2.43% to Rs 3,468.10, following by Adani Ports by 2.16% to Rs 270.15.
Other big losers included Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, NTPC, HUL, Infosys, GAIL, RIL, Sun Pharma and SBI, falling by up to 2.15%.
Sector-wise, BSE realty index fell the most by 1.94% followed by power 0.75%, auto 0.62%, capital goods 0.53%, FMCG 0.52%, infra 0.45% and IT 0.42%.
Market breadth turned negative as 1,513 stocks ended in the red while 1,197 finished higher and 209 ruled steady.
Total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 5,380.47 crore up from Rs 3,615.78 crore yesterday.
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