Markets are likely to make a soft-to-cautious start

The key benchmark indices ended Wednesday’s trading session flat. Choppy trades were seen as investors turned cautious ahead of the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s policy statement. The BSE Sensex ended lower by 2 points and the lost 6 points. Broader indices too ended the day with marginal losses.  

The European stock indexes ended Wednesday’s session near neutral line. The FTSE 100 of the UK lost 0.05%. The German DAX Index advanced 0.06% and the French CAC 40 Index gained 0.08%.

The US’ stocks ended the volatile trading session on a mixed note with the Dow and the S&P 500 carving out fresh all-time highs, after the Federal Reserve kept interest rate unchanged and announced that it would start reducing the size of its massive balance sheet in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 42 points to close at 22,412 and the S&P 500 gained 2 points to close at 2,508. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 5 points to close at 6,456.  
 
Asian stock markets were trading listless in the early hours of Thursday after Wall Street ended on a mixed note. The Nikkei 225 climbed up by 169 points. On the other hand, the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 23 points and the China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 5 points.  

Domestic markets are likely to make a soft to cautious start on sluggish global cues. The Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange were trading at 10,147 lower by 21 points.