Markets open flat on caution ahead of FOMC meet

ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were the top losers while RIL and Infosys were among the top gainers

Markets opened flat as traders turned cautious ahead of the two-day FOMC meet in which the US Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates.

At 9:16am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 6 points at 25,145 and the Nifty50 was down 1 point at 7,649.

"Nifty is expected to open on flattish note and likely to remain range bound during the day. Going forward, 7640 may act as a strong support, whereas 7680/7720 will act as a resistance level. Any closing above the same may extend the bounce back rally towards 7800/7850," Nirmal Bang Securities said in a technical note.

Inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 5.41% in November 2015
compared to 5% in October 2015.

The rupee was trading higher at 66.98 to the US dollar compared to the previous close of 67.11 in the previous session.

On Monday, the rupee crossed 67 a dollar, following cues from its Asian peers, as emerging market investors braced for an imminent rate rise by the US Federal Reserve for the first time since June 2006.

ICICI Bank, ITC, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors and HDFC were the top Sensex losers while Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, HUL, Axis Bank and Infosys were the top gainers.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks were trading mixed as investors turned cautious ahead of the outcome of the US Fed meet while volatility in global crude oil prices also weighed on sentiment. Shares in Japan lost the most with the benchmark Nikkei down 0.7% while Shanghai Composite was down 0.1%. Howeverm Straits Times and Hang Seng was up 0.1%-0.4% each.

US stocks recouped intra-day losses to end higher on Monday amid a recovery in global crude oil prices even as investors are keenly awaiting the outcome of the US Fed meet which is expected to announce hike in interest rate.