Domestic benchmarks opened lower on Wednesday, tracking a slide in global equities after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the likelihood of aggressive rate hikes to tackle inflation.

The Nifty 50 index fell 0.49 per cent to 17,625.95, while the S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.48 per cent to 59,931.07 in early trade.

Twelve of the 13 major sectoral indexes declined, with high weightage financials and information technology shedding 0.4 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

The slide comes after Powell's testimony before the US Congress on Tuesday, in which he said strong economic data in the US raised the possibility of prolonged and higher-than-expected interest rate hikes.

Global markets fell after Powell's testimony, with the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan losing 1.82 per cent.

The probability of a 50 basis point (bps) increase in the federal funds target rate at the upcoming meeting has now risen above 70 per cent.

The semi-annual, two-day monetary policy testimony will continue on Wednesday.

Thirty-seven of the Nifty 50 constituents logged losses with Hindalco and IT stocks falling the most.

Most of the Adani group stocks, however, extended gains after US boutique investment firm GQG Partners' GQG.AX $1.87 billion investment in the conglomerate on Thursday.

The group's flagship firm Adani Enterprises rose over 1 per cent and was the top Nifty 50 gainer.

Among non-index stocks, NBCC India jumped over 2 per cent after getting work orders worth ₹541 crore, while Ajanta Pharma climbed 2 per cent ahead of a board meeting on Friday discussing share buybacks.

Related Topics