The Indian equity benchmark indices opened higher on Wednesday following mixed trading in global markets. At 9:15 am, the Sensex opened 0.41 percent or 245 points higher at 60,275. Nifty50 index opened higher at 17,948 -- up 100 points or 0.25 percent. The broader market indices were trading higher.

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Bluechips leading the gains on the Nifty50 index were SBI Life, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, L&T, Hindalco. Each scrip gained over 1-2 percent. Leading the losses were Divi's Lab, Sun Pharma, Titan, Tata Motors, Grasim.

Among sectors, IT, metals, auto and realty indices were in the green. And sectors like media, pharma, healthcare indices were under selling pressure.

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Global shares hovered at record highs while currency markets and US Treasuries were steady on Wednesday, as investors looked to the expected winding down of pandemic-era monetary stimulus in the world's largest economy.

The Federal Reserve is expected to announce the tapering of its $120 billion-a-month asset purchase programme in its policy statement at 1800 GMT. Ahead of the much-anticipated meeting, Asian shares failed to follow a strong lead from Wall Street.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.33 percent in early trading on Thursday.

The Australian benchmark share index was the biggest gainer, rising 1.3 percent. But those gains were outweighed by falls in Hong Kong's Hang Seng off 1 percent, and South Korea's KOSPI down 1.2 percent.

On Tuesday, MSCI's all-country world index, which tracks equity performance in 50 nations, closed at a record high, helped by all three major US stock indexes hitting intraday peaks during the session.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday as industry data pointed to a big build in oil stocks in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer, and as pressure mounted on OPEC to increase supply. Brent crude fell 1.2 percent to $83.74 a barrel while US crude tumbled 1.5 percent to $82.65 a barrel. Spot gold slipped 0.2 percent.

(With inputs from Reuters)