Domestic benchmarks edged lower at the open on Thursday as the investors continued to fret over the likelihood of higher-for-longer interest rates and its effect on economic growth.
The Nifty 50 index dipped 0.08 per cent to 17,538.05, while the S&P BSE Sensex edged 0.09 per cent lower to 59,696.36 in early trade.
Nine of the 13 major sectoral indexes fell, with high-weightage financials dropping 0.25 per cent.
The minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, released late on Wednesday, indicated that a majority of the members favoured smaller rate hikes in subsequent meetings.
US markets, however, declined as a slew of macroeconomic data since that meeting have kept fears of an aggressive rate hike path intact.
The minutes of the latest Reserve Bank of India meeting, on the other hand, showed a majority of the members reiterated that it would be premature to lower the guard against inflation.
Among individual stocks, Zee Entertainment tumbled 7 per cent after the National Company Law Tribunal admitted the company to corporate insolvency resolution process, in a petition filed by IndusInd Bank. The media index fell over 2 per cent.