Indian equity benchmarks were subdued on Wednesday as investors remain on edge ahead of the US Federal Reserve rate-setting meeting, with many fearing drastic action would risk tipping the world into recession.
In early exchanges on Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex was 78 points in the red at 52,615.04 and the broader NSE Nifty was around 15,725, a few points lower.
Heavy selling pressure was witnessed in Hindmotors, Tata Steel, Reliance, Adani Power and HCL Technologies stocks.
From the Sensex pack, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints and Bajaj Auto were the major gainers in the early trade, while Tata Steel, HUL, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Britannia were the top losers.
"Domestic equities may see a subdued opening in view of a lacklustre trend in the overnight US markets and sluggish trend in the SGX Nifty. However, expect bears to remain in control if Nifty's closes below its biggest intraday support at 15611," said Prashanth Tapse, Vice President for Research at Mehta Equities.
"All eyes will be on the FOMC June policy meeting outcome with focus on the magnitude of the rate increase," he added.
Global investors treaded cautiously ahead of the Fed announcement later in the day, keeping Indian stock markets muted in early trade, with energy and metal stocks opening lower.
The bright spot, though, was shares of Network18 Media and Investments, which rose over 2 per cent after Viacom18, in which Network 18 owns a majority stake, won digital streaming rights for the Indian cricket league IPL from 2023 to 2027.
Shares of One97 Communications were up over 2 per cent after the company's average monthly users on its PayTM super app rose 48 per cent for two months ending May.
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