PremiumStock Market Updates: Indian stock market experienced a strong start on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. However, earnings reports soon took over investor sentiment and the indices traded in the red for most of the session and closed with losses.
Asian shares were higher Thursday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to their highest level in more than two decades, just as Wall Street expected. European and UK markets are also trading in the green in the morning session.
Indian market started strongly on Thursday after Fed increased the rate by 25 bps along expected lines, but soon moved into red and ended the day lower, mostly driven by earnings reports by heavyweights.
The Nifty 50 index shed 80 points to close at 19,700, while the S&P BSE Sensex dropped 440 pts to end at 66,266. Only four of the 15 Nifty sectoral indices ended in the green with Pharma, Healthcare and Realty jumping more than 2% each.
Among gainers, Cipla and Sun Pharma led the Pharma index rally and jumped 10% and 2%, respectively. Mahindra & Mahindra dropped more than 6%, followed by Tech Mahindra which shed around 3.5%. Tata Consumer, BPCL and Nestle were down more than 2% each.
Pharma and Realty sector jumped along with PSU Bank ending with marginal gain. Auto, FMCG, Bank, and Energy led the drag in the market and shed around a per cent each.
Asian shares were higher Thursday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to their highest level in more than two decades, just as Wall Street expected.
Japan's Nikkei share average rose as a rally in regional equity markets helped to lift sentiment, but uncertainty around a closely watched Bank of Japan policy meeting limited gains. Nikkei finished 0.68% higher and the broader Topix ended 0.53% higher.
Hong Kong shares rose led by tech stocks, after local authorities increased the base rate following a U.S. interest rate hike. China shares were roughly flat after industrial profits extended this year's double-digit pace of declines into a sixth month.
China's blue-chip CSI300 Index closed down 0.1%, while the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2%. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 1.4%.
European stocks gained on a busy day of earnings reports and ahead of a decision from the region’s central bank, while traders increasingly bet that the Federal Reserve is close to the end of its tightening cycle. Barclays shares slumped after its second-quarter trading revenue fell 41%.
UK's FTSE 100 edged higher as gains in media stocks led by upbeat outlook from Informa and investors' hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve would stop raising interest rates, overpowered losses in energy shares.
Dr Lal Pathlabs, a prominent provider of diagnostic and healthcare services, announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 2023. The company reported a consolidated net profit of ₹83.6 crore, marking a significant year-on-year (YoY) growth of 43.6%.
In the corresponding quarter of the previous year, the net profit of the company was ₹58.2 crore, highlighting the substantial improvement in profitability.
Dr Lal Pathlabs' consolidated revenue in Q1FY24 also saw growth, increasing by 7.6% to ₹541 crore from ₹502.7 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. (read More)
In a major relief to the tenants and real estate sector, the GoM has reduced the stamp duty on redeveloped housing apartments to ₹100.
Dhaval Ajmera, Director, Ajmera Realty and Infra India Ltd sharing his opinion on this development said, "This move by the Maharashtra Government is revered and will be of immense benefit to redevelopment projects. Mumbai MMR is home to a large number of old housing societies with buildings in dilapidated conditions awaiting redevelopment. This welcome move will now expedite the process and encourage other societies in need of redevelopment to take the next step.
Overall, this is a positive step taken by the Government that will be beneficial for both tenants and developments. As an outcome, the process of redevelopment will get cheaper and faster, benefiting many housing societies in Mumbai MMR and enabling a quality lifestyle for many."
- Shares of asset management companies declined on Thursday, a day after Jio Financial Services, part of the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group said it will form a joint venture with U.S.-based BlackRock Inc to launch services in India.
HDFC Asset Management, UTI Asset Management and Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC fell between 0.75% and 2%.
"The fear, probably, in the market is that if they (Jio Financial) go the telecom way and do their asset management foray at very low costs, it could create a little bit of heat among the other existing players," said Amit Kumar Gupta, founder at Fintrekk Capital.
Reliance had upended India's telecoms industry when it launched cheap data plans and free calls, triggering a price war in the sector.
"Whether Jio Financial Services and BlackRock will go all passive or all active (funds) or a mix of both remains to be seen." (Reuters)
Shares of Netweb Technologies listed on the bourses at a robust premium of over 89% on Thursday. The stock listed at ₹947 on NSE, reflecting a steep jump of 89.4 per cent as against the issue price On BSE it debuted at ₹942.5 apiece, 88.5% higher.
Netweb Technologies IPO opened for subscription on Monday, July 17, and ended on Wednesday, July 19. The company has fixed the price band at ₹475 to ₹500 per equity share for the proposed initial public offer. The lot size for the Netweb Technologies IPO was 30 shares and retail investors can apply up to 13 lots. (Read More)
Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) is currently engaged in discussions with the Russian oil major, Rosneft, regarding the purchase of oil under a term deal. The motivation behind these talks is the narrowing of discounts on Russian oil.
Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta, who serves as the head of finance at BPCL, confirmed the ongoing discussions with Rosneft, but as of now, the deal has not been finalized.
As per a report by Reuters, BPCL is looking to secure an agreement to buy up to 6 million metric tons of Russian oil from Rosneft under the proposed term deal. This news was reported last month and indicates the company's efforts to explore new avenues for oil procurement amid changing market conditions. (Read More)
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank had a strong financial performance in the quarter ended June 2023, with its net profit showing an impressive 59.7% year-on-year (YoY) growth. The net profit for this quarter stood at ₹324.07 crore, a significant increase from ₹202.94 crore reported in the same quarter of the previous year.
The bank's net interest income (NII), which represents the difference between the interest earned and interest expended, also witnessed notable growth in Q1FY24. The NII increased by 32.1% to ₹792.4 crore, compared to ₹599.7 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
However, the net interest margin (NIM) for the quarter experienced a slight decline of 40 basis points (bps) to 9.2%, down from 9.6% in the previous year's corresponding quarter. (Read More)
After declaring record date for first interim dividend on 2nd August 2023, Share India Securities has declared ₹2 per share interim dividend (20 per cent of ₹10 per share face value) for its eligible shareholders for the financial year 2023-24. The board of directors of the brokerage firm considered and approved first interim dividend while discussing its Q1 results 2023 on Wednesday. (Read More)
Bajaj Finserv had an impressive performance in the quarter ended June 2023, with its consolidated net profit showing a substantial year-on-year (YoY) increase of 48.4%. The net profit for this quarter reached ₹1,942.63 crore, a significant surge from ₹1,309 crore, which was reported in the same quarter of the previous year.
Furthermore, the company's revenue from operations in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24 (Q1FY24) demonstrated remarkable growth, rising by 46.5% compared to the same period last year. The revenue reached ₹23,280 crore, a notable upswing from ₹15,888.3 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. (Read More)
Colgate Palmolive (India) Ltd’s impressive June quarter (Q1FY24) results have been well received by investors, prompting a 6% surge in share prices in Thursday’s early trade and reaching a new 52-week pinnacle of ₹2009.90 per share.
Performance outshone expectations, with both revenue and margins surpassing forecasts. The company’s gross margin reached a multi-quarter high of 68.4% in Q1, reflecting a year-on-year expansion of 211 basis points (bps). Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) margin also swelled by 440 bps year-on-year to 31.6%, even as the company allocated part of these gains to advertising and promotions. (Read More)
Fedfina, a company promoted by Federal Bank Ltd, has taken a significant step towards going public by filing its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
The Fedfina IPO will consist of two components. The first is a fresh issue of equity shares with a total value of ₹750 crore. The second component is an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 70,323,408 equity shares. The shares offered in the IPO have a face value of ₹10 per equity share.
In the offer-for-sale, both the promoters and the promoter group will participate in selling their shares. The Federal Bank, as a promoter shareholder, plans to sell up to 16,497,973 equity shares. On the other hand, True North Fund VI LLP, another shareholder, intends to sell up to 53,825,435 equity shares. These combined offerings make up the total of up to 70,323,408 equity shares available in the IPO. (Read More)
As of the end of day 2 of the subscription period, the Yatharth Hospital IPO has been subscribed 1.76 times. The IPO opened for subscription on Wednesday, 26 July, and will close on Friday, 28 July.
During the second day of the IPO subscription, there was a positive response from different investor categories. Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs) and retail investors showed significant interest, with the retail investors portion being subscribed 2.09 times and the NIIs portion being subscribed 2.96 times. However, the response from Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) was relatively lower, with their portion being subscribed at 26%. (Read More)
Dr Reddy share price hit intraday hit of ₹5,580.85 and low of ₹5,425 on BSE. According to Ruchit Jain, lead research analyst at 5paisa, Dr Reddy share price is rallying higher along with other pharma names and the short term trend is positive. However, the RSI oscillator is in overbought zone and hence, traders should look for buying opportunities either on some price-wise or time-wise correction.
On Thursday, Dr Reddy posted a consolidated total revenue from operations at ₹6,757.9 crore as compared to ₹5,232.9 crore in the same period last year. Comparing the first quarter of the current fiscal year (Q1) to the same quarter a year prior, total expenses increased to ₹5,086.2 crore from ₹4,628.2 crore. (Read More)
On Thursday, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) witnessed a sharp decline in its share price, dropping by over 6 percent. This drop came in response to the government's decision to initiate an offer for sale (OFS) with the aim of reducing its stake in the company by up to 5.36%. As a result, the RVNL share price experienced a significant decrease, reaching as low as ₹125.50 per share on the BSE.
The central government had previously announced the 'Offer for Sale' of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd on July 26.
The floor price set for the RVNL OFS stands at ₹119 per equity share, representing a substantial discount of nearly 11% from RVNL's closing price on July 26. (Read More)
India's largest container port, Mundra Port, has accelerated the despatch of containers after Cyclone Biparjoy's operational disruption last month, with throughput surpassing the levels seen before the storm.
Data for the container facility showed a surge in rail-handled twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for July to an average of 5,300, a rise from pre-cyclone levels of about 4,900. Post-cyclone, the number of double-stack container trains has jumped by 33%, expediting their clearance from the port. (Read More)
Pramod Amthe of InCred opines on Bajaj Auto: ADD - Maintained | INR4,870 tp:INR5,573 - Look for exports and new launch ramp-up
■ 1Q EPS growth of 16% qoq to Rs.58.8 is in line with our/Bloomberg consensus estimates as strong ASP and cost control helped sustain the EBITDA margin.
■ Gradual export volume recovery and good bookings for Triumph JV bike led to our 3% EPS upgrade for FY24F-25F.
■ Visibility improving on export recovery led us to raise target P/E to 18x 1-year forward (10-year mean), resulting in a new TP of Rs5,573. Retain ADD rating.
Nestle India announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 2023, showing impressive growth. The company reported a net profit of ₹698.3 crore, representing a significant increase of 35.6% when compared to ₹515 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
In terms of revenue, Nestle India witnessed a growth of 15.4% in Q2CY24, with total revenue amounting to ₹4,658.5 crore, as opposed to ₹4,036.6 crore in the same period last year. The domestic sales of the FMCG major also performed well, registering a growth of 14.6%.
Notably, Nestle India's net profit surpassed the estimates made by Livemint, while the revenue growth was in line with their estimates. (Read More)
Colin Shah, MD, Kama Jewelry views on Gold price outlook post-Fed rate hike: The US Fed hiking rates by 25 bps were on expected lines, the street is expecting one more hike from here on. As inflation is showing signs of control an impending fear of recession will limit Fed's ability to hike rates further. We may expect an easing of policy rates by next year. The expectation of policy easing has led to a fall in the dollar index and thereby strength to the yellow metal. The rally in the past couple of days is expected to continue albeit at a slower pace.
Globally, the prices are expected to touch the $2000/oz level. Domestically, the rate may touch its previous high of over 62,000/10gm. The movement of the yellow metal will largely be guided by the economic data in the west, and the magnitude of the recession in the US.
Cyndrella Carvalho of JM Financial Institutional Securities views on Dr Reddys Laboratories | Stellar show
Result Update BUY INR 6,260
DRRD’s stellar 1Q was led by North America business (+80% YoY; +11% beat) aided by gRevlimid (USD 120-125mn), Mayne Pharma consolidation and base business improvement. We note that gross margins are at their highest levels driven by strong US, Europe and Russia markets and are expected to remain elevated within the 56-59% range. The management remains confident of growing their India business (high single digit growth ex one-offs) largely via in-licensing opportunities, innovation and trade generics. We envisage US market to experience stable pricing and short term supply side opportunities arising from (1) drug shortages; (2) channel realignment; and (3) financial/regulatory woes of competitors. We see these disruptions benefiting US generic players at large over the next few quarters alongside key launches. As biosimilars trials (c. 20% of R&D spend) and Horizon 2 opportunities (50-100bps spend) progress, R&D spends will increase gradually in absolute terms. We expect DRRD to make further inroads in China market as they aim to achieve USD 180mn+ in 3 years. We continue to believe that DRRD’s strong compliance, prudent capital allocation and diversified geographic mix with a thrust on India and US will continue to create value. We maintain BUY with a Mar’24 Price Target of INR 6260 (including gRevlimid NPV of INR 300).
Prathamesh Mallya, DVP Research, Non-Agro Commodities & Currency, Angel One Ltd. Daily Commodity Outlook:
GOLD Outlook: We expect gold to trade higher towards 59670 levels, a break of which could prompt the price to move higher to 59760 levels.
CRUDE Outlook: We expect crude oil to trade lower towards 6380 levels, a break of which could prompt the price to move lower to 6300 levels.
BASE METALS Outlook: We expect copper to trade higher towards 744 levels, a break of which could prompt the price to move higher to 748 levels.
Tech Mahindra announced its April-June quarter results for fiscal 2023-24 (Q1FY24) on July 26, reporting a decline of 38 per cent in consolidated net profit at ₹692.5 crore, compared to ₹1,131 crore in the year-ago period. The fall in the company's profit was on the back of weakness reported in its key segments. The IT major's consolidated revenue from operations during the first quarter of current fiscal stood at ₹13,159 crore, reporting a rise of 3.5 per cent, compared to ₹12,707 crore in the year-ago period.
On Thursday, Netweb Technologies' share price made a strong debut on the bourses, listing at a significant premium. On the NSE (National Stock Exchange), the stock price opened at ₹947 per share, marking an impressive 89.4% increase over the issue price. Similarly, on the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange), the shares of Netweb Technologies were listed at ₹942.50 per share, showing a substantial premium.
The Netweb Technologies IPO subscription period began on Monday, July 17, and concluded on Wednesday, July 19. During this time, investors had the opportunity to subscribe to the company's shares at a price band set between ₹475 to ₹500 per equity share for the proposed initial public offering. (Read More)
HFCL Limited announces its u-audited financial results for the first quarter ended 30th June, 2023.
Key Highlights:
Revenue in Q1FY24 stands at INR 995.19 crores as against INR 1,051.02 croresinQ1FY23
Revenue from international business grew by 156% inQ1FY24 as compared to Q1FY23
Export and Product revenue CAGR for last 3 years stands at 88.02 % & 46.04 % respectively
EBIDTAmargin increasesto 16.04% inQ1FY24 as compared to 12.35% inQ1FY23
PBT margin increased 10.30% in Q1FY24 as compared to 6.75% in Q1FY23
PAT margin stands at 7.59% in Q1FY24 compared to 5.05% in Q1FY23
CARE upgrades short term credit rating to A1 from A2+
Order book stands at INR 6,584.71 crores
On Thursday, July 27, the shares of Bajaj Finance experienced a rise of over 2% in early trading on the BSE, following the release of the company's June quarter (Q1FY24) financial results. The stock opened at ₹7,596.95, compared to the previous day's closing price of ₹7,431.05, and climbed to ₹7,596.95, reflecting the positive market sentiment towards the company's performance.
Over the last year, shares of Bajaj Finance have seen a growth of nearly 19%, while the equity benchmark Sensex recorded a gain of 21% during the same period.
Regarding the Q1FY24 results, Bajaj Finance reported a consolidated net profit of ₹3,437 crore, indicating a significant increase of 32% compared to ₹2,596.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The robust growth in net profit signals the company's strong performance and financial health during the mentioned quarter. (Read More)
Subho Moulik, CEO, Appreciate, a fintech platform: After ten consecutive rate hikes and a pause in June, the Federal Reserve has now hiked rates again by 25 bps. As a result, the federal funds rate is now at its highest level in 22 years. But it looks like the economy is going to be okay. The US economy has been resilient despite high inflation and tightening monetary policy. The unemployment rate is near record lows in half of US states, and consumer confidence is at a two-year high. Moreover, stocks have been doing surprisingly well, with Wall Street defying the pressures of what has been the fastest hiking cycle in about 40 years.
Given these encouraging factors, economists now think a soft landing is more likely than the alternatives, which is one of the reasons the Fed doesn’t seem too worried about pushing rates up. Although inflation is gradually cooling, it still remains far above the Fed’s 2% target. The latest data indicates that the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, increased 4.6% on a year-over-year basis in May, down from 4.7% in April — the May increase was the lowest since October 2021.
The Fed’s rate hike, however, will force central banks around the world to also bump up interest rates to avoid currency depreciation risk, as the flow of capital to higher-yielding US assets might weaken their currencies."
Raghvendra Nath, Managing Director, Ladderup Wealth Management Pvt. Ltd: After a pause in June FED resumed the rate hike with the FED fund’s rate now at 5.25% - 5.50%, its highest level in the last 22 years. Markets had already anticipated this decision. The FED chief has indicated that further actions would be dependent on various reports expected before the next FED meeting. The key events to look out for in the market and FED would be two job reports and two reports on consumer price inflation. Swap market pricing indicates a 50% probability of another rate hike before the FED’s tightening cycle ends. A sustained easing in price pressures over the coming months would be necessary for the FED to put a stop to this tightening.
Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services: The US markets didn’t react to the expected rate action and message from the Fed. The message from the Fed chief’s press conference is that further rate actions will be data-dependent. So the markets will be keenly watching the jobs report and CPI numbers due before the September Fed meeting. As of now, there are no known negative triggers that can impact global equity markets.
Q1 FY 24 results are panning out mostly on expected lines with excellent performance from banks and weak guidance from the IT sector. Early results from FMCG companies indicate pressure on volume growth while auto results are broadly good with improving performance by Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto.
Nifty has rallied around 5% in the last one month mainly on FII buying and sustaining strong inflows into domestic mutual funds. Institutional support is likely to continue.
The Semicon India conference, taking place in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, will see the participation of prominent chipmakers such as Foxconn, AMD, Micron, and IBM. The objective of this event is to draw investments into India's chip industry and position the country as a major semiconductor manufacturing hub, aiming to compete with established semiconductor manufacturing giants like Taiwan and China.
"The event promises to be a catalyst for the semiconductor industry's progress through invaluable networking, technology demonstrations, and lucrative business prospects,", a release by the Gujarat government on the Semicon India event read. (Read More)
The central government on 26 July announced the 'Offer for Sale' of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd's 5.36 stake, it informed via a stock regulatory filing.
The notice said, "The Ministry of Railways has submitted to BSE a copy of notice of the proposed OFS up to 70,890,683 equity shares of RVNL on 27 July, 2023, (T day) and on 28 July, 2023 (T+1 day) with an option to additionally sell 40,866,394 equity shares through a separate, designated window of the BSE Limited and the NSE collectively representing 5.36% of the total issued and paid up equity share capital of the company in accordance with the OFS guidelines." (Read More)
Reliance Industries forms asset management company with BlackRock, Axis Bank reports 41% increase in net profit, Tech Mahindra's net profit declines by 38%, Marico acquires majority stake in Satiya Nutraceuticals, IndiGo to inspect aircraft engines, Tata Consumer Products sees 22% jump in profits, Dr Reddy's Laboratories reports 18% YoY increase in PAT, Jindal Stainless reports 45% YoY rise in PAT, Rail Vikas Nigam announces offer for sale, Cipla's net profit rises by 45.1% in Q1FY24. (Read More)
On July 26, Tech Mahindra released its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023-24 (Q1FY24). The company reported a decline of 38% in consolidated net profit, which amounted to ₹692.5 crore, as compared to ₹1,131 crore in the same period of the previous year. This drop in profit was primarily attributed to weakness observed in its key business segments.
Despite the decline in net profit, Tech Mahindra's consolidated revenue from operations for Q1FY24 showed a positive trend. It stood at ₹13,159 crore, indicating a growth of 3.5% when compared to ₹12,707 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. This rise in revenue suggests that the company's overall business saw some improvement, though challenges in certain segments impacted the profitability during the quarter. (Read More)
Axis Bank released its Q1 results on Wednesday, revealing a strong performance. The net consolidated profit for the quarter amounted to ₹5,797 crore, marking a remarkable 41% increase compared to ₹4,125 crore reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.
The bank's net interest income (NII) witnessed significant growth, surging 27% from ₹9,384 crore in Q1FY23 to ₹11,958 crore in the quarter ending June 2023. This rise in NII indicates an expansion in the bank's interest-earning assets.
Furthermore, the net interest margin (NIM) for Q1FY24 was recorded at 4.10%, which marked a notable improvement of 50 basis points (YoY), demonstrating increased profitability from its interest-earning operations. (Read More)
Jio Financial Services Ltd, the demerged financial lending arm of Reliance Industries Ltd, and BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, have announced a collaboration to establish an asset management company. The joint venture, named "Jio BlackRock," will see a combined investment of $300 million.
In a joint statement released on Wednesday, Jio Financial Services and BlackRock expressed their shared vision to provide "tech-enabled access to affordable, innovative investment solutions for millions of investors in India." The collaboration aims to leverage their respective expertise and resources to offer a wide range of investment opportunities and financial solutions to the Indian market. (Read More)
Vaishali Parekh, Vice President — Research at Prabhudas Lilladher has recommended three intraday stocks for today, here we list out full details in regard to those day trading stocks:
1] M&M Finance: Buy at ₹320, target ₹335, stop loss ₹317;
2] BSE: Buy at ₹768, target ₹800, stop loss ₹758; and
3] RCF: Buy at ₹115, target ₹121, stop loss ₹113. (Read More)
Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) Ltd has expressed its interest in acquiring up to a 9.9% stake in RBL Bank Ltd, a private bank. This interest comes after M&M purchased a 3.53% stake in RBL Bank a week ago. The move indicates M&M's growing involvement and investment in the banking sector as they seek to expand their stake in RBL Bank.
“We may consider further investment subject to pricing, regulatory approvals, and required procedures. However, in no circumstance will it exceed 9.9%," said the Mahindra group in a regulatory filing on Wednesday evening while commenting on the stake acquisition in RBL Bank, which has recently expressed its new strategy to shift from bulk to granular deposits model to expand the bank’s margins beyond 5%. (Read More)
Today, on the 27th of July 2023, the initial public offering (IPO) date for Netweb Technologies India Limited has been fixed. The company's equity shares shall be listed and allowed for trading on the Indian stock market exchange as part of the 'B' group of securities, based on the BSE notification.
The listing ceremony will take place on both the BSE and NSE during a Special Pre-open Session (SPOS) at 10:00 AM on Thursday. Despite the book build issue being aggressively priced, the Netweb Technologies IPO received a strong response from investors, according to stock market experts. They anticipate the public issue to debut with a premium of approximately 70% to 80%. (Read More)
Wall Street stocks shrugged off the latest Federal Reserve interest rate hike on Wednesday, finishing little-changed after a choppy session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.2 percent higher at 35,520.12.
The broad-based S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1 percent to 4,566.75, while the tech-rich Nasdaq composite Index dipped 0.1 percent to 14,127.28.
The Fed as anticipated lifted its benchmark lending rate to a range between 5.25 percent and 5.5 percent, with Chair Jerome Powell saying during a press conference that the central bank would let data determine whether to hike again.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said Powell's comments met the market's expectations, noting that at the end of the press conference, stocks had essentially reverted to their position from before the 1800 GMT announcement.
"It was a very non-committal kind of presentation, which is good enough for the market," he said.
Investors were also fixated on a heavy round of earnings from a range of big companies. (AFP)
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