Domestic benchmarks opened lower on Thursday, after the US Federal Reserve signalled that the interest rate hikes might continue for longer than expected.

In early trade, the Nifty 50 index was down 0.11 per cent at 18,640.55, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.14 per cent to 62,584.77.

Among major sectoral indexes, the Nifty IT fell 0.6 per cent, while the Nifty Bank and the Nifty Oil & Gas indexes eked out marginal gains.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the US central bank will maintain a "restrictive enough" policy stance to control inflation, and raised the short-term rate target by an expected 50 basis points.

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US central bankers see the policy rate, now in the 4.25-4.5 per cent range after Wednesday's 50-basis-point increase, rising to 5.1 per cent by the end of next year, according to the median estimate in the Fed's quarterly summary of economic projections published at the end of its two-day meeting. That is a half percentage point higher than they forecast in September.

Wall Street equities slid overnight after the statement, with all the key indexes logging losses.

Asian markets declined, with the MSCI Asia ex Japan sliding 0.83 per cent.

Among individual stocks, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp shed 5 per cent after the government said it will sell an up to 5 per cent stake in the company.

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