Indian Markets Trade Flat, All Eyes On US Fed

Global markets were trading mostly lower, ahead of the statement and press conference of US Federal Reserve. While interest rates are expected to be held steady by the US Central Bank, the statement on inflation is what markets are looking for.

The Sensex was trading with losses of 2 points, while the Nifty dropped 3 points in early trade. Spencer's Retail saw its shares drop even as consolidated net loss at the company narrowed to Rs 34.53 crore for the fourth quarter ended on March 2021. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 49.26 crore in the January-March period a year ago.

Steel Authority of India saw its shares drop marginally after reports that employees of the company have called for a strike on June 30 to press for their wage revision demand.

Banking stocks were having a rather quite session, ahead of the US Fed outcome. Among the top Nifty losers were Adani Ports, Power Grid and Titan Company.

Mortgage financier LIC Housing Finance saw its stock fall nearly 2% as the company reported a 5 per cent decline in its profit after tax at Rs 398.92 crore in the quarter ended in March 2021 due to higher provisioning for bad loans.

"The further direction of the domestic markets would depend on the monsoon, opening up of the economy in a phased manner and the pace of vaccination going forward. Technically too, Nifty remain in a positive set up and can see a move towards highs of 16000 zones. Also investors would track various macro data points domestically and globally along with US Fed decision today," Siddhartha Khemka of Motilal Oswal said.