Markets open flat ahead of the US Fed meeting today

• Indian markets opened flat following cues from SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the market, which was trading flat to negative.
• Today all eyes will be on the US Fed meeting that may result in a sharp interest rate hike.
• Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance among stocks to watch out for on July 27.

Indian markets have opened flat as investors remained cautious ahead of the Fed meeting today – where a decision could be made on possible interest rate hikes.

Sensex was up 0.09% or 50 points higher at 55,319 while Nifty 50 was up 0.08% or 14 points at 16,498.

Meanwhile, cues from Asia markets were negative as they traded lower ahead of Australia’s inflation report and US Fed’s policy decision.

On Tuesday, the US market ended sharply lower as a profit warning by Walmart dragged down retail shares; and exceptionally weak consumer confidence data added to fears on spending.

Larsen and Toubro was the biggest gainer on the Nifty 50 index after its strong June quarter earnings that saw a 45% growth in net profit to ₹1,702 crore in spite of it being a seasonally weak quarter.

However, investor sentiment was weighed down after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut India’s 2022 growth forecast to 7.4% from 8.2% in April citing less favourable macro conditions and rapid policy tightening.

Investors await the June quarter earnings release of Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Motors and Bajaj Finance scheduled today.

Meanwhile, shares of food delivery aggregator Zomato bounced 5% after crashing for two consecutive days on expiry of a one year lock in period for promoters, employees and other investors.

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