Indian shares open lower ahead of Fed minutes release; metals slide

Indian shares opened lower, ahead of the US Federal Reserve's release of minutes from its December meeting, in which the central bank is expected to give a glimpse of its policy tightening path

BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares opened lower on Wednesday, ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's release of minutes from its December meeting, in which the central bank is expected to give a glimpse of its policy tightening path in 2023.

The Nifty 50 index was down 0.34% at 18,168.60 as of 9:45 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.33% to 61,081.50.

With the minutes likely to contain hawkish comments from the Fed, the markets expect signs of more policy tightening. Wall Street equities fell overnight.

Asian markets, however, recovered from a mixed start, with MSCI Asia ex Japan, rising 1.26% on hopes of swift post-COVID era recovery in China.[MKTS/GLOB]

Among Indian equities, metals and information technology stocks led the losses, falling 1.7% and 0.8%, respectively.

Twenty-nine of the Nifty 50 constituents declined, with Hindalco Industries, JSW Steel, Tata Steel among the top losers.

IndusInd Bank rose over 2.6% and was the top gainer in the Nifty 50, after it reported growth in net advances and deposits in the December quarter, in its quarterly update, post market hours on Tuesday.

($1 = 82.7840 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Janane Venkatraman)