Sensex, Nifty Open Lower As Investors Await Fed Verdict

(RTTNews) - Indian shares opened lower on Tuesday as caution crept in ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision on December 18.

The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex dropped 493 points, or 0.6 percent, to 81,255 in early trade while the broader NSE Nifty index was down 150 points, or 0.6 percent at 24,519.

Among the prominent decliners, Bharti Airtel, Grasim, Reliance Industries, Bajaj FinServ and Shriram Finance were down 1-2 percent.

Life Insurance Corporation of India shares rose about 1 percent. The insurer has unclaimed maturity amounts of Rs 880.93 crore in 2023-24, the parliament was informed.

Tata Consumer Products was down 1 percent after reports that it "will calibrate" its plans to open Starbucks stores in the near term.

Mindspace REIT fell 1.4 percent after 9.2 percent equity changed hands in a block deal.

HDFC Bank dropped 1 percent after receiving a warning from SEBI over non-compliance with listing regulations.

Wipro was marginally lower on news it will acquire Massachusetts-headquartered IT services consulting firm Applied Value Technologies (AVT) for $40 million.