Sensex pares early losses, trades flat; Nifty holds above 24,800; Titan, M&M gain 1% each.

Indian equity benchmarks hovered in a narrow range on Thursday, as investor confidence remained subdued due to cautious commentary from the U.S. Federal Reserve and escalating geopolitical unrest in the Middle East. The broader markets underperformed, with mid-cap and small-cap indices dipping 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively. Among the 13 key sectoral indices, seven ended in the red, led by a 1% drop in IT shares, which are significantly exposed to U.S. markets. Asian equities were also under pressure, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index retreating 1.2%, after the Fed opted to hold interest rates steady and signaled a slower pace of monetary easing now anticipating only two rate cuts by the end of the year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that inflation in goods could accelerate over the summer, partly due to tariff effects linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies. Simultaneously, rising global geopolitical uncertainties continued to cast a shadow over investor sentiment worldwide.