Saturday, December 21, 2024 | 06:04 PM ISTEN Hindi

Sensex ends 152 pts lower ahead of US Fed decision; Nifty dips below 15,700

CLOSING BELL: NTPC, Infosys, HUL, Wipro, and RIL slipped over 1 per cent each

SI Reporter New Delhi

MARKET LIVE: Sensex down 150 pts, Nifty50 below 15,700; PSBs, metals sink

CLOSING BELL

Stock market highlights: Benchmark equity indices turned lower in the fag-end of the trading session as investors booked profit ahead of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, due later tonight.

The S&P BSE Sensex oscillated within a band of less than 400 points intra-day, before settling at 52,541, down 152 points or 0.29 per cent. The NSE Nifty50, on the other hand, ended at 15.692, down 40 points or 0.25 per cent.

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Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, L&T, and Asian Paints were the top Sensex gainers today, rising between 1 and 4 per cent. On the flipside, NTPC, Infosys, HUL, Wipro, and RIL slipped over 1 per cent each.

The broader markets, meanwhile, outpeformed the frontline indices as the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added around 0.5 per cent each. Sectorally, the Nifty Auto index gained the most and closed nearly a per cent higher, while the Nifty Metal fell 0.7 per cent.

ALSO READ: Higher unemployment rate looms in US as Fed fights inflation

Global markets

European stocks were cautiously higher on Wednesday after the European Central Bank announced it will hold an unscheduled monetary policy meeting later today to discuss market rout and surging bond yields. The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.4 per cent in early trade, with banks and insurance stocks adding 2 per cent.

On Wall Street, futures linked to main indices were up in the range of 0.4 per cent to 0.5 per cent. Asia ended mixed with Nikkei dropping over 1 per cent, and Shanghai Composite adding 0.5 per cent.

4:07 PM

Nifty technical view: Lower-end support for the index at 15,500

The volatility continued in the Nifty index ahead of the crucial US FOMC meet outcome.

The lower-end support stands at 15,500 where fresh put writing has been observed and if fails to sustain above it will witness further selling pressure.

The upper-end resistance stands at 16,000 where the highest open interest is built up on the call side.

The Bank Nifty index witnessed a range-bound trading session and will witness sharp movement on either side post the FOMC meeting.

The immediate upper-end hurdle stands at 34,000 and a breach above that will lead to fresh short covering. The lower-end support stands at the 33,000-32,500 zone which has earlier acted as the demand zone.

Views by Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at LKP Securities

markets, stock market, sensex, correction, nifty, shares, growth, profit, economy, gain

4:04 PM

Closing view: 50-75 bps Fed hike priced in by market

Looming fears of stagflation and volatility ahead of the Fed meeting decision forced the market to close flat with a negative bias.

The aggressive rate hike of 50-75 bps is mostly factored by the market but updated economic and interest rate forecasts to be detailed by the central bank's will closely control the future trend.

Views by Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services