The key equity benchmarks traded with losses in the morning trade. The Nifty traded below the 18,050 mark. FMCG, auto and pharma shares advanced while media, financial services and bank stocks slipped.

In early trade, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 38.51 points to 60,618.94. The Nifty 50 index dropped by 0.03% to 18,036.85.

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The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index went up by 0.08% in the broader market, while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.33%. On the BSE, 1,492 shares advanced, 923 shares fell, and 133 shares remained the same.

Shares of Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold worth Rs 2,620.89 crore. As per data, in the Indian equity market, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 773.58 crore.

As investors, Asian stocks were trading mostly higher in the US Federal Reserve’s commitment to higher interest rates.

US stocks snapped a two-day losing streak as Fed minutes released on January 4 from the December meeting showed higher interest rates are to remain as long as inflation stays high.

US manufacturing contracted further in December. On Wednesday, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its manufacturing PMI dropped to 48.4 last month from 49 in November 2022.