Equity stocks ended with minimal losses on Wednesday as investors in India and across the globe trimmed positions before the US Fed’s announcement expected later this evening.
It looked that traders were seen squaring off positions ahead of the public holiday Thursday, market sources said, as there is a view that US central bank may leave key interest rates unchanged.
On the global front, Asia markets ended mixed and Europe was also trading mixed.
Sensex closed down 91.15 points or 0.52% at 17287.31, and the Nifty down 29.60 points or 0.57% at 5165.90.
About 1378 shares have advanced, 1488 shares declined, and 216 shares are unchanged.
The BSE Midcap Index ended at 7,138.74 down 0.1%.
The BSE Smallcap Index ended at 8,773.57 down 0.1%.
The BSE Bankex ended at 8,816.99 down 1.7%. Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Oriental Bank, Allahabad Bank moved downwards.
The BSE Capital Goods Index closed up 0.2% at 13,755.04. Praj Industries, AIA Engineering, Rel Ind Infra, Kirloskar Oil, Bharat Bijlee, Astra Microwave, Lakshmi Machine closed higher
The BSE Auto Index closed at 4,708.32 up 1%. TVS Motor, Mah and Mah, Bosch, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Hind Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Punj Tractors closed higher.
The BSE Metal Index closed at 16,090.20 down 0.6%. Hind Zinc, Sterlite, NALCO, Shree Precoated, Mah Seamless, Jindal Steel, Jindal Saw, JindalStainless closed lower.
The BSE FMCG Index closed up 2% at 2,460.78. Colgate, ITC, Godrej Consumer, HUL, GlaxoSmith Con closed higher.
BSE Oil and Gas Index closed at 11,480.55 down 1.6%. GAIL, Reliance Natura, HPCL, RPL,ONGC, Reliance, ONGC ended in red.
BSE power index closed flat at 3,207.81. Torrent Power, NTPC, Reliance Energy, Tata Power, Power Grid Corp, ended lower.
The BSE IT Index was up 0.2% at 4,244.56. Wipro, I-Flex Solution, Patni Computer, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Infosys closed higher.
Elsewhere is Asia stock markets ended mostly lower after a volatile session. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 finished 0.3 per cent lower, in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 per cent and in Singapore the Straits Times dropped 0.77 per cent.
Apart from India, stock markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam are closed for a holiday on Thursday.
Later this evening, US Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision is due. It is widely expected that the Fed will lower the rate by 25 basis points, and this would be the last cut for some months to follow.
