<p>Equity benchmark indices began the trade on a weak note on Wednesday following a bearish trend in the global markets as investors preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of the release of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes.</p>.<p>Halting a three-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 251.26 points to 61,730.53. The NSE Nifty declined 78.3 points to 18,269.70.</p>.<p>Among the Sensex firms, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints and Tata Motors were the major laggards.</p>.<p>Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Tech Mahindra, ITC and NTPC were among the winners.</p>.<p>In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower.</p>.<p>The US market ended in the negative territory on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Market participants are waiting for the release of the FOMC meeting minutes, scheduled for Wednesday.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.91 per cent to USD 77.54 a barrel.</p>.<p>Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 182.51 crore, according to exchange data.</p>.<p>The BSE benchmark settled at 61,981.79, a marginal gain of 18.11 points or 0.03 per cent on Tuesday. The Nifty went up by 33.60 points or 0.18 per cent to end at 18,348.</p>.<p>"The US debt ceiling impasse continues to affect markets. Since failure to reach a resolution will have catastrophic consequences for the global economy and markets, a resolution of the crisis at the eleventh hour is the most likely scenario.</p>.<p>"But markets will be on tenterhooks till then," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.</p>
<p>Equity benchmark indices began the trade on a weak note on Wednesday following a bearish trend in the global markets as investors preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of the release of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes.</p>.<p>Halting a three-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 251.26 points to 61,730.53. The NSE Nifty declined 78.3 points to 18,269.70.</p>.<p>Among the Sensex firms, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints and Tata Motors were the major laggards.</p>.<p>Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Tech Mahindra, ITC and NTPC were among the winners.</p>.<p>In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower.</p>.<p>The US market ended in the negative territory on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Market participants are waiting for the release of the FOMC meeting minutes, scheduled for Wednesday.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.91 per cent to USD 77.54 a barrel.</p>.<p>Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 182.51 crore, according to exchange data.</p>.<p>The BSE benchmark settled at 61,981.79, a marginal gain of 18.11 points or 0.03 per cent on Tuesday. The Nifty went up by 33.60 points or 0.18 per cent to end at 18,348.</p>.<p>"The US debt ceiling impasse continues to affect markets. Since failure to reach a resolution will have catastrophic consequences for the global economy and markets, a resolution of the crisis at the eleventh hour is the most likely scenario.</p>.<p>"But markets will be on tenterhooks till then," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.</p>