Stock Market Today: NSE, BSE Likely To Open Flat Ahead Of US Fed Rate Decision

Sensex and Nifty 50 are set for a muted start on Wednesday, mirroring Asian peers, as investors await the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision later in the day.

The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 25,909 points as of 7:53 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open near Tuesday's close of 25,839.65.

MSCI's broadest index for Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan fell 0.2% on the day, while the dollar and Treasury yields rose on Tuesday.

The Fed is widely expected to cut rates at its ongoing meeting, but investors expect policymakers to remain divided.

"GIFT Nifty is indicating a flat start (for Indian equities), reflecting defensive positioning as event risk dominates sentiment," said Ponmudi R, chief executive officer at Enrich Money.

The Nifty 50 and Sensex have lost about 1.2% each so far this week on persistent foreign selling amid Fed caution and lingering uncertainty over a U.S. trade deal.

Both indexes are about 1.8% below their respective lifetime highs touched earlier this month.

Foreign portfolio investors sold Indian shares worth 37.6 billion rupees ($418.2 million) on Tuesday, provisional data showed.

They have pulled out $1.3 billion so far in December, pushing their year-to-date selling to $17.7 billion, per National Securities Depository Limited data.

STOCKS TO WATCH

** India orders its largest airline Indigo to cut 10% of its planned flights after the airline scrapped at least 2,000 services last week because of poor pilot roster planning

** Food delivery platform Swiggy's qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue opened at a floor price of 390.51 rupees per share on Tuesday

** E-commerce platform Meesho is set for a strong debut after drawing bids worth $28 billion for its $604 million initial public offering last week

($1 = 89.9150 Indian rupees)