Sensex starts on a weak note

Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex started on a weak note Thursday tracking negative cues from global equities after the US Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged.

After falling over 100 points in early trade, the 30-share index recovered lost ground and was trading marginally lower at 39,006.33. The NSE Nifty too was trading 14.65 points down at 11,733.50.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE bourse closed with 0.09 per cent or 35.78 points loss at 39,031.55, while the NSE Nifty ended 0.06 per cent or 6.50 points lower at 11,748.15.

Top gainers in early session were Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, RIL, M&M, PowerGrid, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Auto, L&T, Coal India and Kotak Bank, rising up to 3.66 per cent.

On the other hand, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tata Steel, NTPC, TCS, HUL, Bajaj Finance, HCL Tech and ITC were among the top losers, shedding up to 1.94 per



cent.

According to traders, market sentiment was choppy as investors took weak cues from globe equities after the US Federal Reserve Wednesday decided to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged amid mixed signals about the direction of the US economy.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq ended in the red on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, benchmark equity indices in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a mixed note in early trade.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading 0.28 per cent lower at USD 71.98 per barrel.

On the currency front, the rupee was trading flat at 69.57 against the US dollar in early trade.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equity worth Rs 114.59 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares to the tune of Rs 730.02 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.