Snapping a two-day losing streak, benchmark indices closed a percent higher on Wednesday with Nifty50 settling at 16,641.80 and Sensex ending at 55,816.32.

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NSE

Financial services and information technology stocks, which were the worst performers on Tuesday, led today's upmove.

Mihir Vora, Director & Chief Investment Officer, Max Life Insurance said, “We are in a kind of a wait and watch consolidation zone. Because after the monsoons, typically we have the cyclical busy season and the festive season where some amount of pent up demand should be there. So probably the markets are positioning for that”.

How stocks moved

United Spirits shares ended 7 percent down as inflation ate sharply into the liquor marker's margin. The firm reported a 366 basis point dip in gross margin.

Shares of Tata Power Company closed 4 percent lower after the company reported a fall in operating margin to 13 percent in the June quarter due to higher power and fuel costs.

Sanofi India's stock settled down 3.5 percent as the stellar dividend announcement by the pharmaceutical company failed to cheer investors as higher raw material costs weigh on the margin.

Global markets

The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a 75 basis point rate hike later today but investors are wary of a surprise in either direction and have preferred safe assets such as dollars.

MSCI's Asia Pacific ex-Japan index was down 0.3 percent while S&P futures were up 1 percent indicating a higher start for US equities later today.

Key European also gained. Investor sentiment got a lift after strong results from Britain's Reckitt Benckiser and Russia-exposed lender UniCredit. Meanwhile, upbeat results from US mega-caps Microsoft Corp and Google parent Alphabet Inc overnight had also supported the sentiment.

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