After opening in the green, the Indian equity indices traded marginally lower on Tuesday ahead of the US Federal Reserve policy decision.

The BSE Sensex was trading 129 points lower at 71,812. Nifty50 was trading at 21,709, down 29 points at around 9.31 am.

India’s interim budget on Thursday and Fed policy decision on Wednesday will be the major near-term triggers for domestic equities, according to market analysts.

Among individual stocks, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, Tata Motors, Infosys, and TCS opened with gains, while Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, and ITC opened with cuts.

Bajaj Finance shares fell 4.8% in early trade after the company missed the December quarter profit view on the lending tool ban and higher provisions.

KEC International shares rose 3.3% after the company won new orders worth Rs 1,304 crore across its various businesses.

On the sectoral front, Nifty IT, AutoFMCG, Media, Metal, Realty, and Healthcare opened higher, while Nifty Financial Services, PSU Bank, and Consumer Durables opened in the red.Experts Take
“It appears that the strong DII and retail support and the consequent resilience of the market is forcing FIIs to reduce their selling. The Fed commentary on Wednesday will influence the US bond yields and consequently the FII strategy,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

“Large caps like RIL, Bharti Airtel, L&T and ICICI have strength to support the market. In the near-term, expectations regarding the budget will influence the market. Market doesn’t expect any major changes in taxation relating to the capital market. Therefore, any such proposal will have an impact on the market,” Vijayakumar said.

Mandar Bhojane, Choice Broking, said, “Analyzing the daily charts reveals that the Nifty has surpassed its previous swing high of 21,750, signaling a break in the downtrend by violating the lower top lower bottom formation. Looking ahead, the index could extend its pullback towards 21,950, with 21,850 to 22,000 posing as immediate resistance levels.”

Global Markets
Asian shares fell on Tuesday, hurt by the court-ordered liquidation of property giant China Evergrande while rising geopolitical tensions propped up oil prices and kept a lid on risk appetite ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting.

China stocks fell 0.69% and were on course for a near 4% drop for the month. Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.42%, set for an 8% gain for the month.

Wall Street equities rose overnight with the S&P 500 hitting a fresh record high, ahead of key corporate earnings and Fed policy decision on Wednesday.

FII/DII Tracker
Foreign institutional investors snapped a seven-session selling streak on Monday and bought shares worth about Rs 110 crore on a net basis, exchange data showed. Domestic institutional investors remained net buyers, adding shares worth Rs 3,221 crore.

Oil Prices Rise
Oil prices rose in early trade on Tuesday as escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continued to fuel supply concerns.

Brent crude futures rose 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $82.65 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 31 cents, or 0.4%, at $77.09 a barrel.

Rupee Rises
The Indian rupee rose 3 paise to $83.13 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, declined 0.14% to 103.46 level.

(With inputs from agencies)

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