MUMBAI: Equity indices fell in early trade on Wednesday following weak global market trends ahead of the keenly awaited US Fed policy meeting outcome on interest rates.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 227.93 points to 59,491.81 in initial trade. The NSE Nifty went lower by 55.05 points to 17,761.20. However, later both the benchmark indices turned choppy.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, HDFC, ICICI Bank, TCS and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the biggest laggards.
However, Nestle, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the gainers. Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower. The US markets had ended in the negative territory on Tuesday.
"Markets are likely to trade in choppy waters intra-day, as traders look forward to the keenly awaited US Fed policy meeting outcome on interest rates," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
On Tuesday, the BSE benchmark had climbed 578.51 points or 0.98 per cent to settle at 59,719.74. The Nifty went higher by 194 points or 1.10 per cent to end at 17,816.25.
Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.22 per cent to USD 90.82 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 1,196.19 crore on Tuesday, according to data available with the BSE.