Sensex, Nifty End Choppy Session Slightly Higher

Indian shares ended Tuesday’s session marginally higher after a choppy session.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fluctuated before finishing slightly higher near record levels as investors awaited key policy announcement and commentary from the U.S. Federal Reserve at the end of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.

Fed funds futures traders currently price in a 62 percent probability of a 50 basis-point cut and a 38 percent probability of a 25 basis-point cut, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Whether the Fed decides to cut rates by 25 or 50 basis points, the central bank is still expected to continue lowering rates over the remainder of the year.

Investors also cheered data that showed India’s wholesale price inflation softened more-than-expected in August to the lowest level in four months.

According to provisional data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the wholesale price index, or WPI, rose 1.31 percent year-over-year in August, slower than the 2.04 percent increase in July. Economists had expected inflation to ease to 1.80 percent.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex ended the session up 90.88 points, or 0.11 percent, at 83,079.66 while the broader NSE Nifty index settled up 34.80 points, or 0.14 percent, at 25,418.55.

Two-wheeler manufacturers topped the gainers list, with Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto climbing 3.3 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC and Bharti Airtel rose 1-2 percent while Tata Motors and Eicher Motors declined 1.4 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

China growth worries weighed on metal stocks, with Tata Steel, Coal India and JSW Steel all falling around 1 percent.

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