Investors stay on sidelines ahead of US Fed meet

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex and Nifty edged up in volatile trade on Friday following buying in blue-chip stocks such as ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel amid mixed global trends ahead of the US Fed chair Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole Symposium.

Rising for the fourth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 33.02 points or 0.04 per cent higher at 81,086.21. In early trade, the benchmark declined 169.93 points or 0.20 per cent to a low of 80,883.26. Later, it bounced back 178.3 points or 0.21 per cent to hit a high of 81,231.49, but gave up gains towards the end. The NSE Nifty edged up 11.65 points or 0.05 per cent to close at 24,823.15 registering gains for the seventh session in a row. However, market capitalisation (Mcap) of BSE-listed companies eased by Rs0.56 lakh crore to Rs4,59,96,548.98 (Rs459.96 lakh cr or $ 5.48 trn.

“Ahead of the FED chair Powell’s speech, the Indian indices oscillated around the flat trajectory and mixed global market sentiments further catalysed this scenario. Investors are exercising caution and awaiting Powell's signals for more insights on the interest rate path,” Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge jumped 0.15 per cent, however the midcap index fell 0.66 per cent.