Sensex rises ahead of Fed decision; defensives gain

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex rose nearly 1 percent on Wednesday to mark its second consecutive day of gains on continued foreign investment inflows while stocks perceived as defensive gained ahead of the conclusion of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting later in the day.

Among defensive shares, cigarette maker ITC Ltd provisionally rose 1.6 percent while drug maker Dr.Reddy's Laboratories Ltd ended 2.4 percent higher helped by a key drug approval.

The broader Nifty provisionally rose 1 percent, while the Sensex ended 0.84 percent higher.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)