Sensex rises 200 points ahead of US Fed rate decision, Nifty above 21,850

Among the Sensex stocks, , , , and were the top gainers, rising over 1% each in early trade. On the flip side, , , , and opened with cuts.

Sector-wise, Nifty Auto rose 1.1%, and Nifty PSU Bank gained 0.6%. Nifty IT, Metal, Realty, and Oil & Gas also opened higher, whereas Nifty FMCG and Consumer Durables opened lower.

The Fed is expected to keep rates unchanged when it meets after the closing bell on Wednesday. The focus will be on the commentary, as investors look for clues into the future rate trajectory in the United States.

Markets have pushed back the timing of the first Fed rate cut to June due to sticky inflation data.

The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps opened flat. However, they are down 8.7% and 5%, respectively, in March.

Experts Take
"Fed’s rate decision, more importantly the Fed commentary tonight, will decide the trend in the mother market US," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, .

"Buy on dips is likely to emerge today in large caps. Bank Nifty has the potential to lead the buying supported by other high-quality largecaps like Bharti, and leading ," Vijayakumar said.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, "Nifty can find support at 21,800 followed by 21,750 and 21,700. On the higher side, 21,900 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 21,950 and 22,000."

Global Markets
Asian markets opened higher, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index adding 0.35%. Wall Street equities closed higher overnight. Australia's resources heavy shares were 0.3% higher. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.4% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.1%.

FII/DII Tracker
Foreign portfolio investors bought Indian shares worth Rs 1,421 crore on a net basis on Tuesday. Domestic institutional investors added a net Rs 7,450 crore of stocks.

Crude Oil
Oil prices edged lower in early Asian trading on Wednesday, as a stronger dollar curbed investor appetite while traders took some money off the table after benchmarks rallied to multi-month highs in each of the past two sessions.

Brent crude futures for May delivery fell 13 cents, or 0.15%, to $87.25 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for April delivery, which expire on Wednesday's settlement, fell 35 cents, or 0.4%, to $83.12 a barrel.

Currency Watch
The Indian rupee rose 1 paisa to 83.02 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, increased 0.03% to 103.85 level.

(With inputs from agencies)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)