Indices come off the day's low; European markets edge higher

The key equity benchmarks came off the day's low in afternoon trade. After hitting the day's low at 18,057.90, the Nifty managed to pare some losses and currently hovered near the 18,100 mark. Auto, PSU banks and IT shares declined while metal, pharma and oul & gas stocks managed to trade in the green.

At 13:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 166.76 points or 0.27% to 60,954.59. The Nifty 50 index lost 49.10 points or 0.27% to 18,096.30.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (down 2.95%), Bharti Airtel (down 2.58%), Maruti Suzuki (down 2.36%), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.88%) and Britannia Industries (down 1.66%) were the top Nifty losers.

Hindalco (up 2.90%), ONGC (up 2.26%), Sun Pharma (up 1.75%), ITC (up 1.20%) and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.72%) outperformed.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.05% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.27%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,753 shares rose and 1,614 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged.

An unexpected rise in the US job openings data for September, dimmed hopes that the Fed would go easy on aggressive rate tightening in December ahead of the central bank's policy meeting decision later today. A 75 basis point rate hike is widely expected from U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers post the conclusion of their two-day meeting on Wednesday.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tech Mahindra rose 0.26%. On a consolidated basis, the IT major's net profit rose 13.59% to Rs 1,285.40 crore on 3.32% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 13,129.50 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q1 FY23. On a year on year (YoY) basis, Tech Mahindra's net profit declined 4% while revenue jumped 20.7% in Q2 FY23.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) shed 0.48%. APSEZ reported 65% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 1738 crore on 33% rise in total revenue to Rs 5211 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.

Eicher Motors declined 2.14%. The auto major's total motorcycles sales jumped by 86% to 82,235 units in October 2022 from 44,133 units sold in October 2021. While sales of motorcycle models with engine capacity up to 350cc doubled to 74,828 units, sales of motorcycle models with engine capacity exceeding 350cc rose 10% to 74,828 units in October 2022 over October 2021.

Karnataka Bank hit an upper circuit limit of 20%. The private lender's net profit surged 227.70% to Rs 411.63 crore on 11.04% increase in total income to Rs 2,031.09 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22. For the quarter ending September 2022, the net interest income increased by 26% to Rs 802.73 crore from Rs 637.10 crore. The net interest margin has improved to 3.56% from 3.15% as of 30 September 2021.

Global markets:

Markets in Europe and Asia mostly advanced on Wednesday as investors brace for another likely 75-basis-point rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.

The U.S. central bank is expected to hike interest rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday when its meeting concludes.

Investors will be closely eyeing any signals in the statement or comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell afterward that the central bank is contemplating decreasing its rate hikes.

In Europe, the market expects the Bank of England to raise interest rates by 75 basis points on Thursday, its largest hike since 1989, but economists believe policymakers will strike a dovish tone looking ahead as the prospect of a recession deepens.

With U.K. inflation running at a 40-year high of 10.1% in September, the Bank is seen hiking its main lending rate for the eighth consecutive time, but weaker growth momentum and a major shift in fiscal policy is expected to ease calls for more aggressive monetary tightening.

US stocks slipped on Tuesday as investors digested economic data ahead of an expected rate hike from the Fed later Wednesday.

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