Mumbai, June 19 (IANS) The Indian benchmark indices opened almost flat on Thursday over the US Federal Reserve policy decision and weak Asian cues, as selling was seen in the IT, PSU bank, FMCG and pharma sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.34 am, Sensex was trading 1.66 points or 0.00 per cent marginally up at 81,446.32 while the Nifty added 9.90 point or 0.04 per cent at 24,821.95

Nifty Bank was up 43.15 points or 0.08 per cent at 555,871.90 The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 58,068.85 after dropping 40.35 points or 0.07 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,404.05 after adding 25.60 points or 0.14 per cent.

According to analysts, as expected, the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged. However, in their statement, policymakers maintained expectations for two rate cuts this year, while a growing minority now anticipates no cuts at all.

“Additionally, the Fed slightly revised its outlook, projecting just one quarter-point cut each in 2026 and 2027,” said Mandar Bhojane from Choice Broking.

The 24,500-25,000 range for the Nifty is likely to hold till news from the Israel-Iran conflict change for the better or for the worse. If news of deescalation of tensions break, Nifty will break out of the upper band of the range, said experts.

“If the news is about escalation of tensions, particularly relating to troubles in the strait of Hormuz resulting in sharp spike in crude, it would be difficult for Nifty to hold on to the 24500-support level. So, watch out for the developments in West Asia,” said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

Meanwhile, in the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, HCLTech, PowerGrid and Tata Steel were the top losers. Whereas, Titan, M&M, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Tata Motors were the top gainers.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers on June 18, purchasing equities worth Rs 890 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also remained buyers, investing Rs 1,091 crore during the session.

In the Asian markets Bangkok, Japan, Seoul, Jakarta, Hong Kong and China were trading in red.

US markets closed on a mixed note on the last trading day following the US Fed Reserve policy decision and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech.

Dow Jones in the US closed at 42,171.66, down 44.14 points, or 0.10 per cent. The S&P 500 ended with a loss of 1.85 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 5,980.87 and the Nasdaq closed at 19,546.27, up 25.18 points, or 0.13 per cent.

–IANS

skt/na