Indices snap 5-day winning streak, drop 1.2% ahead of Fed announcement

The benchmark indices snapped their five-day winning streak on Tuesday as investors shifted focus to the US Federal Reserve’s policy announcement. Rising retail inflation in India and a drop in Asian and European equities also weighed on sentiment.

The benchmark Sensex ended the session at 55,777, a decline of 709 points or 1.3 per cent, and the Nifty ended the session at 16,663, a drop of 208 points or 1.2 per cent. In the previous five trading sessions, both indices had jumped more than 6 per cent, rebounding from seven-month lows.

India’s retail inflation rose to 6.07 per cent in February. This