Markets trade flat ahead of Fed QE3 decision

Business

oi-Sunil

By Sunil Fernandes

Published: Wednesday, September 18, 2013, 9:41 [IST]

Markets opened the day higher ahead of a key decision by the US Federal Reserve on QE3 tapering, but gave up gains and were trading flat. The Sensex was trading with gains of 1 point and the Nifty was trading lower by 2 points.

Among the top gainers in trade were software stocks including Wipro and TCS. However, Infosys lost marginal ground on reports that one of its top executives had quit the company.

Investors continued to take shelter in defensives ahead of the Fed's crucial decision with pharma and FMCG stocks rallying. Among the pharma sector stocks that gained ground were Cipla and Dr Reddy's Labs.

Sun Pharma , however, lost ground for the second day in a row on selling pressure. Ranbaxy Labs which had lost as much as 30% in trade on Monday and recovered marginally on Tuesday continued to gain ground in trade today.

Banking stocks, however, saw some buying interest with notable gainers from the space being Yes Bank, Axis Bank and Punjab National Bank.

FMCG stocks also rallied in trade today with gainers being ITC and Hindustan Unilever. Realty stocks were subdued and were trading flat.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were trading mostly lower, except the Japanese Nikkei which rallied more then 1% in trade. The Chinese Shanghai Composite, the Hong Kong's Hang Sang and the Jakarta Composite were all trading with marginal losses.

The US Federal reserve will take a decision on QE3 tapering later today. A press conference is scheduled for 1.30 AM IST.

GoodReturns.in