Sensex, Nifty50 plummet on selling pressure across all sectors ahead of FOMC minutes

• Indian benchmark indices plummeted on Wednesday as bears took control ahead of the FOMC minutes.
• Sensex ended 1.04% or 636 points lower to close at 60,657 while the 50-stock index also closed 1.04% or 189 points lower at 18,042.
• Investors are focused towards the upcoming quarterly earnings season amid mixed cues from global markets as the holiday season is about to end.
• While all the sectors ended in red, metals, PSU banks and relay company stocks hit the most.

Indian benchmark indices plummeted on Wednesday as bears took control ahead of the FOMC minutes. There was selling pressure in all sectors, with metals, PSU banks and realty seeing the most selling.

Sensex ended 1.04% or 636 points lower to close at 60,657 while the 50-stock index also closed 1.04% or 189 points lower at 18,042.

Investors are focused on the upcoming quarterly earnings season amid mixed cues from global markets as the holiday season is about to end. IT giant TCS will kick start the earnings season next week on January 9.

“The domestic market, affected by the worries in the global market, traded with deep cuts. Fears over aggressive rate hikes resurfaced ahead of the release of Fed meeting minutes, a meeting that left the door open for additional hikes. Apart from global cues, the domestic market will pay close attention to corporate earnings. India’s services PMI expanded to 58.5 in December owing to stronger growth in new business,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

While all the sectors ended in red, metals, PSU banks and relay company stocks hit the most. On Nifty50, except seven all stocks ended lower with JSW Steel losing the most by 4.16%, Hindalco Industries by 4.05% and Coal India by 3.21%

On the BSE, every two shares fell for a one that rose as 2,276 stocks ended in the red and 1,221 in green on Wednesday.

Mixed signals in the global markets
Indices in Asia were mixed on Wednesday as investors keenly awaited minutes from the US Federal Reserve later today that will indicate the direction of further interest rate hikes.

While Nikkei 225 was down 1.45%, Taiwan was down 0.18%, Hang Seng was up 3.22%, Shanghai SE Composite was up 0.22% and Taiwan was up 0.10%.

Meanwhile, the US markets closed lower on the first trading day of 2023 ahead of Fed minutes. The S&P 500 index closed down 0.40% on Tuesday followed by Dow Jones that ended 0.03% lower, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.76%.

Crude oil prices slipped sharply on concerns of demand from China and a weak economic outlook. Brent crude oil prices fell 2.38% at $80 per barrel on Wednesday.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) were net sellers on Wednesday pulling out ₹2,620 crore while domestic institutional investors (DII) were net buyers infusing ₹773 crore.

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