Opening bell: Day after closing at 6-month high, Sensex drops to 63,068, Nifty in red at 18,707

Benchmark equity indices fell in early trade on Wednesday after two days of rally as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the announcement of the US Fed interest rate decision later in the day.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 75.11 points to 63,068.05. The NSE Nifty dipped 9.6 points to 18,706.55. From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Wipro and Larsen & Toubro were the major laggards.

Tata Steel, Power Grid, Tata Motors, ITC, Nestle and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong were trading lower, while Tokyo and Shanghai quoted in the green.

The US markets ended in positive territory on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.09 per cent to USD 74.36 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹1,677.60 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Climbing for the second straight session, the Sensex had jumped 418.45 points or 0.67 per cent to settle at 63,143.16 on Tuesday. The Nifty rose 114.65 points or 0.62 per cent to end at 18,716.15.

“Investors will pay close attention to Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments on the policy outlook. In case the Fed keeps rates unchanged, the feel good factor could have a rub off effect on benchmark Nifty that may help the index reach its all-time-high,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.