Stock Market: Sensex Sheds 90 Points, Nifty Holds 18,100 Amid Mixed Global Trends

Stock update: Bharti Airtel, Titan, Maruti, Infosys, Nestle, Tata Consultancy Services, Asian Paints, and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major losers on the Sensex paltform

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Wednesday edged lower ahead of US Federal Reserve’s rate call amid mixed global market trends.

At 10.30 am, the BSE Sensex declined 90 points to 61,030, while the broader NSE Nifty dipped 18 points to 18,127.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Maruti, Infosys, Nestle, Tata Consultancy Services, Asian Paints, and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major losers.

On the flip side, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.

In broader markets, the indices were fractionally higher as Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 indices climbed up to 0.2 per cent.

All sectors shifted between gains and losses, with Nifty Pharma and Nifty Media indices advancing over 1 per cent each. Nifty IT, Nifty Auto, Nifty PSU Bank indices, however, slipped up to 0.4 per cent.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE benchmark climbed 375 points (0.62 per cent) to settle at 61,121. The Nifty advanced 133 points (0.74 per cent) to end at 18,145.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading higher, while Tokyo quoted lower. Wall Street had ended in the negative territory on Tuesday.

"Globally markets are waiting for the Fed commentary tonight. So it will be the Fed's commentary and probable guidance that would be market moving," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.26 per cent higher at $ 95.84 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Tuesday as they bought shares worth Rs 2,609.94 crore, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 12 paise to 82.71 against the US dollar in morning trade on Wednesday amid a muted trend in domestic equities.

Forex traders said the rupee opened on a flat note ahead of the US Federal Reserve's much-awaited monetary policy decision later in the day. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.64 against the dollar, then lost further ground to quote at 82.71, registering a loss of 12 paise over its previous close.