Sensex up 55 points; Realty, FMCG stocks major gainers

MUMBAI, SEPT 18:

The Sensex and the Nifty were trading up by over 0.2 per cent in the afternoon session on Wednesday led by realty, FMCG, consumer durables and bank stocks amid mixed global cues.



Marketmen said that the US Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting today would determine the future direction of global markets.



Investors also treaded with caution ahead of the Reserve Bank of India mid-quarter review of monetary policy on Friday.



The central bank is likely to maintain status quo as the headline inflation data, which rose to 6.1 per cent in August from 5.7 per cent in July, over-shadowed the 2.6 per cent year-on-year rise in IIP and the fall in consumer inflation to 9.5 per cent in August from 9.6 per cent in July.



At 12.39 p.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 55.54 points (0.28 per cent) at 19,859.57 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 15 points (0.26 per cent) at 5,865.20.



On the BSE, realty, FMCG, consumer durables and healthcare indices remained investors\' favourite and were up 1.21 per cent, 0.88 per cent, 0.71 per cent and 0.62 per cent, respectively.



On the other hand, metal and auto indices succumbed to selling pressure and were down 0.15 per cent and 0.12 per cent, respectively.



Tata Power, Dr Reddy\'s, NTPC, SBI and HUL were the top five Sensex gainers, while the top five losers were HDFC, BHEL, Sesa Goa, Hero MotoCorp and M&M.



A report from India Forex Advisors said: "For the Fed, consensus has congealed around a reduction of $10-$15 billion a month, with all purchases ending by the middle of next year. The bigger reaction will likely come if the Fed pulled back more aggressively, as that would lead the markets to price in an earlier start to rate rises as well. That would be especially painful for Emerging Market countries that rely on foreign capital to fund current account deficits, with India and Indonesia being amongst the most vulnerable."



Investors expect the Federal Reserve to reduce its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying programme by $10 billion.
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