Indian equity benchmarks were trading lower on Thursday’s afternoon session prior to the expected interest rate hike of 75 basis points by the US Federal Reserve. The depreciating Indian rupee against the dollar also weakened market sentiments. Rupee slipped 12 paise to 82.71 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange driven by the rising demand for dollar by importers and banks globally.

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The Sensex was trading at 60,946.59 down by 174.76 points or 0.29% after trading in a high-low range of 61,209.65 and 60,903.52. On the index, only 9 stocks were advancing and 21 were declining.

The broader indices were trading mostly red with the BSE Midcap index down by 0.10% and the Small-cap index up by 0.21%. 

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The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto down by 1.13%, Telecommunication 1.07%, TECK 1.00%, Realty 0.85%, and Realty 0.73%. While Metal up by 1.12%, Healthcare 0.68%, Energy 0.21%, and Oil & Gas 0.18% were the only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

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The top losers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel down by 2.71%,  Maruti Suzuki 2.16%, Titan Company 1.45%, Hindustan Uniliver 1.44% and  Nestle 1.41%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma Industries up by 2.51%, ITC 1.32%, HDFC Bank 0.61%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab 0.54% and Tata Steel 0.44% were the top gainers on the index.

The Nifty was trading at 18,093.20 down by 52.20 points or 0.29% after trading in a high-low range of 18,178.75 and 18,081.35. On the index, 15 stocks were advancing, against 35 stocks declining.

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The top losers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel down by 2.74%,  Apollo Hospital Ent. 2.70%, Maruti Suzuki 2.19%, Eicher Motors 2.00%, and Hindustan Uniliver 1.54%. While Hindalco up by 2.29%,  Sun Pharma Industries 2.17%,  ONGC 2.07%, Coal India 1.36, and ITC 1.30% were the top gainers on the index.

Asian markets were trading mixed. Nikkei 225 fell 0.06%, Shanghai Composite rose 1.12%, KOSPI Composite rose 0.07%, and Hang Sang rose 2.41%.