Stock Market: Sensex, Nifty Trade Flat. ITC Slips Over 2 Per Cent; Metals Lead, FMCG Drags

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, ITC declined 2.33 per cent. The stock has fallen 7 per cent in the past 2 sessions. Asian Paints, TechM, Axis Bank, L&T, Infosys were among the losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday opened with mild gains as global markets remained on sidelines ahead of the US Fed's monetary policy decision this week. The two indices were trading flat as the BSE Sensex fell 23 points to 66,361. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was at 19,669, down 3 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, ITC declined 2.33 per cent. The stock has fallen 7 per cent in the past 2 sessions. Asian Paints, TechM, Axis Bank, L&T, Infosys were among the losers. On the upside, JSW, UltraCemco, NTPC, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, M&M were among the gainers. Among stocks, SJVN jumped 7 per cent after the Arunachal Pradesh government allotted five hydro projects of 5,097 MW to the firm.

In the broader markets, the BSE and Midcap and Smallcap indices gained up to 0.6 per cent.

Among sectors, metal index up 1 per cent, while FMCG index down 1 per cent. Buying is also seen in the auto, capital goods, healthcare, oil & gas, power, and realty names.

In the previous session on Monday, the BSE Sensex ended with a loss of 299 points at 66,385, while the NSE Nifty50 eventually settled 73 points lower at 19,672.

"Globally markets will be keenly watching the Fed commentary since a 25 bp hike in rate is already known and discounted by the market," said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, in his market outlook.

Asian markets were trading in green. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.29 per cent while Hang Seng advanced 3.12 per cent. European markets finished mixed with the UK's FTSE 100 gaining 0.19 per cent and Germany's DAX rising 0.08 per cent. The CAC 40 of France lost 0.07 per cent. The US markets ended broadly higher on Monday with the S&P 500 registering a gain of 0.40 per cent.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.13 per cent higher at $82.85 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were sellers on Monday as they sold equities worth Rs 82.96 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee gained 14 paise to 81.67 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday tracking the weakness of the American currency in the overseas market. However, a surge in crude oil prices capped sharp gains for the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.74, then touched a high of 81.67 against the American currency, registering a rise of 14 paise over its last close. On Monday, the rupee had settled at 81.81 against the dollar.