Markets mark time as investors await Fed move

Markets edged higher in the afternoon session this Wednesday, however, sentiments remained jittery ahead of the key central banks policy meeting this week.

Investors are awaiting on the sidelines the outcome of today’s Federal Reserve Open Market Commitee (FOMC) meet that will help determine the pace and quantum of stimulus tapering by the US central bank.

“Market has factored in tapering by the US Federal Reserve to the tune of $10 billion. So any level up to $10 billion should not come in as a surprise for the markets,” said Ashu Madan, chief operating officer, Religare Securities.

At 2:20PM, the 30-share Sensex rose 38 points  at 19,841 and the 50-share Nifty added 10 points at 5,860 levels.

The broader markets were marginally higher with mid-caps and small-caps gaining 0.2 per cent on the BSE.

The market breadth was almost flat. Out of 2,288 stocks traded, 1,075 stocks advanced while 1,077 stocks declined on the BSE.


RUPEE

Rupee continued to trade strong in the afternoon amid dollar flows from foreign banks.

At 2:10PM, the partially convertible rupee was trading at 63.15 per dollar against the yesterday’s close of 63.37 on the Interbank Foreign Exchange.


GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index trading near a four-month high, before the Federal Reserve decides later today whether to slow its $85 billion of monthly asset purchases.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.4% to 14,505, Singapore’s Straits Times gained 0.4% at 3,194, China’s Shanghai Composite index was up 0.3% at 2,191 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3% to 23,117 today.

European shares also opened positive. CAC gained 0.2% to 4,152, Germany’s DAX gained 0.2% to 8,615 while UK’s FTSE was up 0.1% to 6,578.


STOCK MOVERS

Domestically, the key sectoral indices gainers were realty, banks, FMCG, consumer durables, oil & gas while IT, auto and metal indices dropped on the BSE.

The gainers included counters such as NTPC surging 3%, Tata Power gained 2.8%, Dr Reddy’s rose 1.9%, SBI was up 1.7% on the BSE.

The laggards were BHEL declined 3.2%, Hero MotoCorp fell 2%, Sesa Goa was down 1.8%, HDFC fell 1.8% on the BSE.