Stock Markets Open In Red: Sensex Down Over 300 Points, Nifty Below 19,900. IT Stocks Drag, HCL Tech Down 2%

Stock Market Update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, SBI, Tata Steel, JSW, Axis Bank were some of the early gainers. On the downside, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, TCS emerged as some of the major losers.

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, started trade in red on Wednesday amid weak global cues as the US Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged. Notably, the Feds forecast indicated one more rate hike before the end of this year.  At 9.40 AM, the BSE Sensex was trading at 66,478, down by over 322 points. On the other hand, the Nifty declined 77 points and was trading at 19,824.80. 

On the 30-share Sensex platform, SBI, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Axis Bank, and NTPC were some of the early gainers. On the downside, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, TCS, and Nestle India emerged as some of the major losers.

Among individual stocks on the Nifty50, HCL Tech shares dropped over 2 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, TCS, LTIMindTree, and Grasim Industries. On the flip side, Hindalco, UPL, Adani Port, and Dr Reddy became the biggest gainers. 

The broader market defied its counterpart as the BSE MidCap index was up 0.2 per cent, and the SmallCap gained 0.3 per cent.

Sectorwise, barring a few all the indices were in negative territory, with Nifty IT, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Bank and Nifty FMCG dragging the market. On the other side, Realty, Metal, Media and PSU Banks marking gains 

In the previous trade session on Wednesday, the Sensex declined 796 points or 1.18 per cent to 66,800.84, while the Nifty declined  231.90 points or 1.15 per cent to settle at 19,901.40.

Overnight, the US market declined following the US Federal Reserve's announcement that it might not reduce interest rates as much next year as initially anticipated, regardless of Wall Street's desires. The S&P 500 fell by 0.9 per cent to 4,402.20, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.2 per cent to 34,440.88, and the Nasdaq composite saw a 1.5 per cent decrease to 13,469.13.

The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged but adopted a more hawkish stance, hinting at another rate hike by year-end and maintaining a tighter monetary policy through 2024. They expect the benchmark interest rate to peak around 5.50 per cent-5.75 per cent this year, slightly above the current range, similar to their June projection.

In the Asian market, major indices declined around in early trade, Japan's Nikkei, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 1 per cent. 

The rupee on Thursday opened at 83.09 against the dollar, compared to the previous day's closing rate of 83.07 per dollar.