Moneycontrol Bureau
The market was cautiously optimistic as the crucial FOMC meet will decide interest rates tonight. Most analysts are hoping that the Federal Reserve will increase rates for the first time in a decade. Ridham Desai, MD & Head of India Research, Morgan Stanley feels that the Indian market will gain if Fed hikes rates, adding that the rupee too will be stable. According to him India is much better placed in the world with respect to leverage.
Continuing the positive trend, the market ended higher on Wednesday. The Sensex was up 173.93 points or 0.7 percent at 25494.37 and the Nifty ended up 50 points or 0.6 percent at 7750.90. About 1421 shares advanced, 1273 shares declined, and 214 shares were unchanged.
Meanwhile, Wall Street is bracing up for a rate hike by the Fed. The central bank officials have gathered in Capitol Hill for their 2-day meeting.
Oil prices continued steady decline today. This, after OPEC, said that this low price trend wouldn't last long.
Back home, auto stocks hogged limelight as Mahindra and Mahindra ended 5 percent lower. Auto index was down 0.5 percent from previous close.
In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court has cracked the whip to clean up the capital's toxic air. A slew of measures including ban on new diesel SUVs and luxury cars and a 100 percent hike in green tax on trucks have been imposed. The ban is not just for Delhi, it will be imposed on the entire national capital region, encompassing 34,000 sqaure kilometres.
ITC, Hindalco, Wipro and Maruti were other losers in the Sensex. Among gainers were ONGC, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Lupin and Infosys.
On macro front, passage of the goods and service (GST) tax seems increasingly remote amid continued disruption of parliamentary proceedings with only 5 days left for the winter session. Industry leaders met the Finance Minister today and pledged their support to the bill that is touted to be a game-changer for India commerce and industries.
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