Benchmark indices declined in the opening hours of trading
on Wednesday amid weak trends in global markets, fresh fund outflows, and firm
crude oil prices.

In early trade, the BSE Sensex fell 75 points to 55,193.49. The NSE Nifty slipped 33.6 points to 16,450.25.

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Major laggards from the Sensex pack were Bajaj Finserv down
by 1.31%, Kotak Mahindra down by 1.00%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.58%, and Bajaj
Finance down by 0.31%, Reliance down by 0.31%, ITC down by 0.12% and Tata Steel
down by 0.11%.

Among the gainers were Larsen & Toubro up by 3.07%, Sun
Pharma up by 1.85%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.66%, and UltraTech Cement up by
0.76%.

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The rupee depreciated 10 paise to 79.88 against the US
dollar following the strength of the greenback in the overseas market and firm
crude oil prices.

In Asia, markets in Shanghai, Seoul, and Hong Kong were
trading lower while Tokyo was marginally higher.

The US stock markets had ended lower on Tuesday.

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“The US Fed announcement on interest rates expected
late tonight is unlikely to impact equity markets in a big way since the most
likely outcome of 75 bps (basis points) rate hike has been discounted by the
markets.

“The market, which continues to be volatile, is
swinging between fears of an imminent US recession on one side and hopes of the
US avoiding a sharp economic slowdown on the other. Only time will tell which
of the two scenarios will play out,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment
Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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On Tuesday, the BSE Sensex fell 497.73 points or 0.89% to
settle at 55,268.49 points. The Nifty had declined 147.15 points or 0.88% to
16,483.85 points.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark added 0.10% to
$104.50 per barrel.

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According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional
investors again offloaded shares worth Rs 1,548.29 crore on Tuesday.