FINAL TRADE: Sensex ends 131 pts lower, Nifty settles near 25,375; Shriram Finance ends over 4% higher

Indian equities ended Wednesday's session lower ahead of the Fed meeting outcome later today after hiting record highs in the intraday trade. Nifty at the close settled down by 0.16 per cent at 25,377.55, while Sensex settled with a cut of 131.4 points or 0.16 per cent at 82,948.23. India VIX also surged nearly 7 per cent today. Broader markets, meanwhile, ended sharply lower, underperforming the headline indices.

33 stocks in the Nifty ended in the red, while 17 advanced. Within the Nifty pack, Shriram Finance, Bajaj twins, Nestle and ICICI Bank emerged as the top gainers. while losers included stocks like TCS, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Wipro.

IT stocks led the losses as sentiment turned cautious before the Fed's much-anticipated easing cycle that is likely to be initiated after a gap of four years. Furthermore, pharma and oil & gas also ended with a cut of over 1 per cent, with only banking and financial services seeing buying action.

Commodities, including oil prices, are steadily declining, suggesting a potential tempering of economic growth, he added.

Meanwhile, European stocks also traded with a decline as nervousness prevailed ahead of the key Fed outcome later today.