Sensex slips ahead of RBI rate decision

Indian shares slipped on Wednesday with banks among top losers, as investors stayed cautious ahead of the central bank’s policy decision.

The Reserve Bank of India is widely expected to hold rates for a second time in a row at the end of its two-day meeting later in the day. The decision is due at 1430 local time (0900 GMT).

It is also expected to retain its “neutral” stance, while cautioning about inflation, which accelerated to a seven-month high in October.

“It is a general volatility in the markets before the RBI policy decision,” said Rakesh Tarway, head of research at Reliance Securities.

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.28 percent at 10,090.20 as of 0536 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.19 percent lower at 32,739.93.

Asian stocks also stumbled, dragged by losses on Wall Street as the technology sector stuttered yet again after a brief rebound. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped more than 1 percent.

The Nifty PSU bank index fell as much as 1.4 percent, looking set to snap two sessions of gains. State Bank of India declined as much as 1.7 percent.

Dish TV India Ltd dropped as much as 2.9 percent after posting a bigger-than-expected second-quarter loss.