During the early trading hours, both the indices gave up most of their gains as profit booking emerged and investors remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.
At 9:45 am, the Sensex was down 13.19 points at 73,990.63, while the Nifty traded marginally higher by 2.65 points at 23,121.25. However, at around 10:45 am, Sensex was trading higher by almost 400 points, or 0.5%, while Nifty was trading higher by 127 points, or 0.55%.
Market breadth remained weak, with 2,405 shares declining compared with 856 advancing shares.
FMCG stocks support markets; IT and pharma remain under pressure
Among Nifty 50 stocks, Nestle India and Tata Consumer Products gained more than 1%, while Reliance Industries and State Bank of India also rose around 1%, providing support to the index. Larsen & Toubro and Eternal emerged as key drags.
The FMCG sector was the strongest performer, with the Nifty FMCG index rising nearly 1%, while the Nifty Pharma index declined around 0.8%. One 97 Communications erased most of its intraday gains following discussions around new merchant discount rate rules for UPI payments.
Solar Industries India extended its decline, falling over 2%, while Tata Investment Corporation dropped more than 5%, making it the biggest loser in the Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 indices.
Markets remained cautious as investors awaited the Federal Open Market Committee’s policy decision. Small-cap indices declined around 1%, while mid-cap indices fell 0.5%.
Crude oil, foreign outflows weigh on sentiment
Elevated crude oil prices continued to pressure investor sentiment. Brent crude traded near $108.3 per barrel after reaching a four-month high, following supply concerns linked to Saudi Arabia’s suspension of oil loading at Yanbu port and reduced shipments to Europe.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 2,978 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 2,686 crore.
Analysts said the Nifty needs to decisively move above 23,300 to trigger fresh buying interest. A sustained move above 23,600 could indicate a reversal in the current trend.