Markets take a breather after 8-day rally; all eyes on US Fed interest rate decision

Benchmark indices ended lower on Wednesday, halting their eight days of rally, ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and mixed global market trends.

Also, fall in index majors Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Larsen & Toubro added to the weak trend in equities.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 161.41 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 61,193.30. During the day, it tumbled 330.27 points or 0.53 per cent to 61,024.44.

The broader NSE Nifty fell 57.80 points or 0.32 per cent to end at 18,089.85.

From the Sensex firms, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies, IndusInd Bank and Tata Steel were the major laggards.

Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, ITC and Nestle were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong ended lower, while Shanghai settled in the green.

European equity markets were trading mostly with gains. The US markets had ended lower on Tuesday.

Rallying for the eighth straight day, the BSE benchmark had climbed 242.27 points or 0.40 per cent to settle at 61,354.71 on Tuesday. The Nifty went up 82.65 points or 0.46 per cent to finish at 18,147.65.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 2.08 per cent to USD 73.75 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,997.35 crore, according to exchange data.