Indian stock markets opened lower on Tuesday, December 17, with the equity benchmark indices Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex and National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty slipping, for which cautious investor sentiment was cited as the reason owing to the upcoming US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.

Selling in key stocks like Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank contributed to the decline.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped by 350.98 points, reaching 81,397.59, while the NSE Nifty fell by 100.8 points to 24,567.45.

Among the top laggards were Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, JSW Steel, and Titan. On the other hand, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, and Hindustan Unilever showed some gains.

Global markets

In the Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were all trading lower, while Tokyo saw a positive start.

Globally, markets are closely watching the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting. Investors are anticipating a 0.25 per cent rate cut, with much of the focus on comments from Fed officials.

While signals of tighter policies could negatively affect market sentiment, experts consider this unlikely.

On the foreign institutional investor front, they sold off equities worth ₹278.70 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Meanwhile, global oil prices slightly dipped, with Brent crude falling by 0.14 per cent to $73.81 per barrel.

On Monday, the Sensex ended 0.47 per cent lower at 81,748.57, while the Nifty dropped by 0.40 per cent, closing at 24,668.25.

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