Stocks continue to bleed ahead of Fed narrative

4th Session In The Red

- BSE Sensex slumped 329.06 pts to 57,788.03

- NSE Nifty fell 103.50 pts to 17,221.40

- 21 out of the 30 Sensex constituents end lower

- Bajaj Finserv, ITC, TCS, Titan, HCL Tech and HDFC decline

- Sun Pharma, Kotak Bank, M&M, Maruti, L&T and NTPC among gainers

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty buckled under selling pressure for the fourth session on the trot on Wednesday as risk-off sentiment prevailed ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision.

A sharp drop in the rupee, which slumped to a 20-month low against the US dollar, and unabated foreign fund outflows also weighed on the bourses, experts said. The 30-share BSE Sensex slumped 329.06 points or 0.57 per cent to end at 57,788.03. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 103.50 points or 0.60 per cent to 17,221.40.

Bajaj Finance was the top loser in the Sensex pack, dropping 3.10 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, ITC, TCS, Titan, HCL Tech and HDFC. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Kotak Bank, M&M, Maruti, L&T and NTPC were among the gainers, spurting as much as 2.59 per cent. The market breadth was negative, with 21 out of the 30 Sensex constituents finishing in the red. "Anxiety over more anticipated Hawkish policy statement by Fed pressurised the domestic indices to fall. Overall, Fed is expected to announce a faster end to its bond buying campaign and may signal a rate hike in 2022 amid rising inflationary pressure," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

Ajit Mishra, V-P (research), Religare Broking, said: "All eyes will be on the US Fed meeting later on Wednesday. While the majority expects that the committee would hold rates citing the possible challenges due to the new Covid variant, commentary on tapering, inflation and growth would be critical."

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 763.18 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data.