FIRST TRADE: Indices open mildly lower; Nifty down at 24,176, Sensex falls 78 points

Indian equities in Wednesday's trade started lower after the US released its Fed minutes. At the start, Nifty was down 0.08 per cent or 18.4 at 24,176.1, while the Sensex declined 0.1 per cent or 78.48 at 79,925.58.

Sectorally, it was a mixed show, with FMCG, metal, pharma, realty, oil and gas and consumer durable stocks in the red, while the auto and IT traded with most gains of around 0.35 per cent.

Bank Nifty, meanwhile, traded with minor gains, led by gains in HDFC Bank, SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank among others.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, "President-elect Trump has already started declaring what he intends to do immediately upon his taking office on January 20th. 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports and an additional 10% tariffs on Chinese imports have already been announced. How these countries react to these tariffs remains to be seen. Trump has declared only 10% additional tariffs on Chinese imports indicating that he will be careful not to trigger imported inflation in the US. Market participants will be closely watching this trade space which has become unpredictable. India is unlikely to be impacted in the initial phase of Trump’s tariff plan but may come under Trump’s radar soon since India has a trade surplus with the US."

Meanwhile, investors are also factoring a mixed outlook on the US interest rates post the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes pointed that policymakers were divided over future rate cuts. 

Asian markets 

Most Asian markets traded in the red, with the Hong Kong's Hang Seng, however in the green.

Technicals

Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities said, "The Nifty reversed its gains yesterday but bottomed out at an ichimoku support level on the daily chart. That means the 24,120 area is key in the near-term while the 24,300 - 24,500 zone is an immediate upside hurdle. The gap near 23,956 created by the Friday surge remains critical, so any daily close below this level will have us review the bias for an extended recovery."