Benchmark indices were trading marginally lower during the afternoon on Wednesday amid profit-booking.

Market opened on a positive note amid mixed global cues as global investors look forward to the outcome of the Fed meeting. It erased all early gains to trade marginally lower during the afternoon, dragged by pharma, FMCG and financials.

At 1 pm, the BSE Sensex was trading at 59,925.80, down 103.26 points or 0.17 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 60,361.82 and a low of 59,877.68. The Nifty 50 was trading at 17,867.70, down 21.25 points or 0.12 per cent, near the day's low of 17,854.30. It recorded an intraday high of 17,988.75.

The volatility index eased further 2.54 per cent to slip below 17 at 16.63.

L&T, UPL, IOC, Hindalco and Ultratech Cement were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Sun Pharma, Britannia, ONGC, Divi's Lab and ICICI were the top losers.

Metals shine

On the sectoral front, all indices except Nifty Metal and Nifty Realty were in the red. Pharma, FMCG, financials and auto stocks tracked losses.

Nifty Realty was up 1.68 per cent while Nifty Metal was up 0.95 per cent. Nifty Bank was down 0.63 per cent. Nifty Private Bank and Nifty PSU Bank were down 0.76 per cent and 0.41 per cent, respectively. Nifty Pharma was down 0.69 per cent while Nifty Auto was down 0.52 per cent. Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables were down 0.76 per cent and 0.57 per cent, respectively.

Broader indices

Broader indices we trading lower.

Nifty Midcap 50 was down 0.13 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 0.59 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.11 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 0.13 per cent.