BENGALURU: Indian shares struggled for direction on Thursday as investors digested the Federal Reserve agreement for a slower pace of rate hikes, but with a caveat, while the continued slide in oil prices helped cap losses.
The Nifty 50 index was up 0.09% at 18,062.55 as of 10:27 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.01% to 60,662.90. Both the indexes opened higher and climbed 0.4%.
The Nifty and Sensex had slumped about 1% on Wednesday ahead of the minutes of the Fed’s last meeting.
The minutes showed Fed policymakers still focused on controlling the pace of price increases that threatened to run hotter than anticipated.
But they also contained a caution against late-year rate cuts traders have priced in.
“Traders are taking the opportunity to book profit in select stocks as concerns of higher valuations weigh.
Global macroeconomic concerns continue to remain a major worry,“ said Prashanth Tapse, research analyst at Mehta Equities.
Oil prices slid again on Wednesday, taking the drop over the past two sessions to 9.4%, on worries about global growth and rising COVID cases in China.
Financials drag Indian shares 1pc lower
Prices rebounded on Thursday but are still below $79 per barrel.
Lower crude prices aid oil-importing countries like India, where crude constitutes the bulk of the country’s import bill.
Barring financials, most of the major sectoral indexes logged gains, while 34 of the Nifty 50 constituents rose.
Fast moving consumer goods climbed over 1.7%, with 12 of the 15 constituents rising.
Analysts expect consumer staples firms to report stable revenue in the third quarter and recovery in margins, due to softening raw material costs.
Among individual stocks, Bajaj Finance fell about 6% after the Indian shadow lender reported a moderation in loan growth and assets under management in the third quarter.
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