Mumbai: Indian equity benchmarks opened mildly lower on Thursday after a hawkish stance from the US Federal Reserve and concerns over geopolitical developments.
Sensex opened at 74,182.62, down over 150 points or 0.21 per cent, while Nifty started at 23,195.25, a decrease of 22.35 points or 0.10 per cent.
Sectorally, Nifty Media was top laggard and declined nearly 1 per cent in early deals followed by Nifty IT which was trading 0.56 per cent lower and Nifty Consumer Durables also declined 0.31 per cent. Meanwhile, Nifty Private Bank, MidSmall IT & Telecom, MidSmall Financial Services and Nifty Pharma indices were also trading lower.
On the other hand, PSU Bank rose 0.37 per cent, Nifty Chemical gained 0.22 per cent, Nifty Oil & Gas advanced 0.17 per cent and Nifty FMCG climbed 0.13 per cent.
According to the market experts, the Fed’s decision to raise interest rates by 25 basis points was largely in line with expectations.
However, elevated inflation, a resilient US economy and hawkish comments from Fed officials have kept the outlook for financial conditions tight, they added.
“Inflation has been too high and has been for too long,” Fed official Kevin Warsh said, adding that the committee would deliver price stability, the market experts highlighted.
US 10-year Treasury yields around 5 per cent are likely to remain a headwind for equities, although resilient US corporate earnings and a relatively strong economy could provide some support, experts said.
In the previous session, foreign institutional investors remained net sellers, offloading equities worth around Rs 2,000 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth approximately Rs 3,900 crore.
Moreover, Brent crude was trading 0.2 per cent lower at $105.62 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.3 per cent at around $102 a barrel.
(IANS)
