India’s benchmark indices, Nifty 50 and Sensex remained under pressure on Wednesday.
The Sensex and Nifty opened largely flat but quickly dipped as investors looked cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated policy decision, which could provide clues on the future path of interest rate cuts.
Stocks in focus
Financials, auto, and energy stocks were hit the hardest, while pharma and IT stocks outperformed, securing gains.
Sectorally, the PSU Bank index was among the biggest decliners, dropping nearly 1%, with Bank of Baroda (NS:BOB) and SBI (NS:SBI) contributing to the fall, losing 1.5% and 0.5%, respectively.
The Nifty Bank and Nifty Private Bank indices also fell by 0.7%.
The Nifty Auto index declined by 0.6%, driven lower by Tata Motors (NS:TAMO) and Maruti Suzuki (NS:MRTI).
Meanwhile, the pharma index bucked the overall market trend, rising over 1%, supported by strong performances from Sun Pharma (NS:SUN), Dr. Reddy’s, and Cipla (NS:CIPL).
IT heavyweights Wipro (NS:WIPR), Tech Mahindra (NS:TEML), and HCL Tech (NS:HCLT) lead the gains in tech stocks.
Why Nifty and Sensex are falling today
The Indian market has faced pressure in recent sessions, primarily due to continued foreign institutional investor (FII) selling and growing uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
Over the past two days, FIIs have sold off Indian stocks worth ₹6,689 crore (around £0.625 billion).
The market also felt the strain of a weakening rupee, which has been adversely impacted by a rising trade deficit, which reached $37.84 billion in November.
On the IPO front, two major listings—Vishal Mega Mart and MobiKwik—debuted on Dalal Street.
Vishal Mega Mart had a strong performance, surging 33.33% above its issue price.
In contrast, MobiKwik listed at ₹440, delivering an impressive 58% premium over its issue price.
Asian peers remain mixed
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell by 0.4%, while the broader Topix index remained unchanged.
Investors reacted to export data showing a 3.8% year-on-year increase in November, surpassing expectations of a 2.8% rise.
However, imports declined by 3.8%, missing the anticipated 1% growth.
Australian equities gave up early gains and traded lower, with the S&P/ASX 200 closing flat.
In South Korea, the Kospi rebounded, rising nearly 1%, ending a two-day losing streak.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.7% at the open, driven by new guidelines aimed at enhancing state-owned enterprises’ value and halving service fees for dividend payouts.
China’s CSI 300 also rose 0.7%.
The People’s Bank of China is set to announce its loan prime rates (LPR) on Friday, with the one-year LPR influencing corporate and household loans, and the five-year LPR acting as the benchmark for mortgage rates.
US markets feel jitters on Tuesday
In the US, major stock indices closed lower on Tuesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 267.58 points, or 0.61%, closing at 43,449.90.
This marked its ninth consecutive loss, the longest losing streak since 1978, which began after the index surpassed the 45,000 milestone on December 4.
The S&P 500 declined by 23.47 points, or 0.39%, to close at 6,050.61, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped by 64.83 points, or 0.32%, ending at 20,109.06.