Indian stock indices largely steady in early trade

NEW DELHI: Indian stock indices traded largely steady this morning after having declined for the second straight day the previous session after the US central bank Federal Reserve continued raising key interest rates in its fight against the multi-decade high inflation.

The US Fed raised the key policy rate by 75 basis points to over a decade high at 3.75-4.0 per cent in its latest monetary policy meeting.

Notably, this is the fourth consecutive hike of such magnitude.

Back home in India, at 9.42 am, Sensex traded at 60,821.42 points, down 14.99 points or 0.025 per cent, whereas Nifty traded at 18,054.30 points, up just 1.60 points or 0.0089 per cent.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, Hero Motocorp, Divi's Labs, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and Apollo Hospitals were the top five losers this morning, National Stock Exchange data showed.

On the contrary, Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco, JSW Steel, Ultratech Cement, and Bajaj Finance were the top five gainers.

Tightening monetary policy in advanced economies including rising demand for dollar-denominated commodities, and strength in the US dollar had triggered a consistent outflow of funds from Indian markets.

Investors typically prefer stable markets in times of high market uncertainty.