Sensex in wait-and-watch mode ahead of Fed meet, sheds 109 points

Mumbai :Indian shares remained cautious for a second straight session today as the BSE Sensex slipped by 109 points to close at near two-week low of 27,253.44 on disappointing earnings of Lupin and investors staying on the sidelines ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting.

Brokers said, persistent selling because of the upcoming October derivatives expiry also influenced sentiment.

The barometer index had slipped by 109 points yesterday as well, bogged down by subdued numbers of heavyweights, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Ltd.

Asian and European were weak ahead of a monetary policy review by the US Federal Reserve, which could provide clues about the timing of an interest rate hike.

“Investors awaited the outcome of US Fed meet on rate hike which begins later tonight and preferred to stay cautious,” said Gaurav Jain Director at Hem Securities.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened lower at 27,291.06 and stayed in the negative terrain throughout the session to touch a low of 27,209.52 before settling 108.52 points or 0.40 per cent down at 27,253.44.

This is gauge’s lowest closing since October 16 and has lost 217.37 points in last two sessions.
The 50-issue NSE Nifty also dropped by 24.05 points or 0.30 per cent to end at 8,235.40 after shuttling between 8,241.95 and 8,217.05, intra-day.

“Below-than-expected quarterly corporate earnings and weak global cues disappointed the street,” added Jain.

Drug major Lupin today plunged by 5.25 per cent after it posted a 35.11 per cent dip in its consolidated net profit to Rs 408.8 crore for the second quarter.

The drug major was the worst performer on Sensex and Nifty with over 5 per cent plunge.

Maruti Suzuki, however, emerged as the top gainer on both the indexes after its Q2 net profit jumped 42.1 per cent to Rs 1,225.6 crore.

Broader markets, however, outperformed the Sensex with BSE mid-cap index rising by 0.16 per cent and small-cap gaining 0.15 per cent.

Among other Asian markets indices like Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan moved down by 0.17 per cent to 0.99 per cent, while China and Hong Kong moved up between 0.11 per cent and 0.14 per cent.

European indices like France, Germany and the UK moved down by 0.24 per cent to 0.39 per cent.

PTI