Indian shares remain muted ahead of Fed decision, inflation data

Tuesday,   11-Jun-2024   04:05 PM (IST)

Indian shares closed flat coming off a sharp rise last week, as investors moved on from election related news to focus on upcoming inflation data, as well as the US Federal Reserve's policy decision later in the week. The NSE Nifty 50 index settled 0.02% higher at 23,264.85, while the Sensex shed 0.04% to 76,456.59. Seven of the 13 major sectors logged gains. Oil and gas added 1.33%, top sectoral gainer by percentage. After rising about 3.4% last week, the Nifty 50 has dropped about 0.1% this week so far, trading in a narrow 200-point range over the last two sessions. ONGC led the gains in oil & gas and energy indexes, which rose 1.33% and 0.27%, respectively. City gas distributor GAIL gained 2.25%, after reports said petroleum minister hinted at a likely inclusion of natural gas under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Meanwhile, U.S. interest rate-sensitive IT stocks were little-changed ahead of the U.S. consumer price index data for May and the Fed's policy decision on Wednesday. The Fed is expected to hold rates steady and the focus will be on whether policymakers tweak their projections for rate cuts this year. Airlines operator IndiGo's shares dropped 4.32% as its biggest shareholder was set to sell a 2% stake worth $394 million.