Nifty Ends Lower As US Fed Decision Weighs On Markets

Benchmark indices ended the day lower even as the US Fed raised interest rates by 25 basis points weighing on global markets and also Indian benchmark indices. The Nifty ended the day lower by 75 points, while the Sensex dropped by 289 points in trade. Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, SBI and HCL Tech were among the top losers in trade.

Shares in Maruti Suzuki gained after the company said it will increase prices of its model range in April to partially offset the impact of overall inflation and regulatory requirements.

Sentiments were largely impacted by the US Fed decision. The Federal Reserve's hike in interest rates were among the reasons for slight weakness in the markets. While markets were anticipating a 25 basis points, the fall across the US markets came largely from comments by US Treasury Secretary, Yellen which stated that there no plans to insure bank deposits. Markets have not have really reacted to the Fed decision, but, more so to the comments by Yellen. European markets were also seeing some cuts with the French CAC and the UK's FTSE down 0.50% in trade.

Meanwhile, Udayshivakumar Infra's initial public offering was subscribed over 10 times by the afternoon of March 23, the fourth and the final day of bidding.