Benchmark indices ended in the red as the mood turned cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting.

Investors are keenly awaiting the Fed’s commentary on the future trajectory of interest rates even as the markets have discounted a 75-basis point hike in the rates.

After opening in the positive territory at 61156.89 and rising to a high of 61209.65, the 30-share Sensex pared its meagre gains on profit booking and ended 215.26 points or 0.35 per cent lower at 60906.09.

During the day, it slipped 326.96 points or 0.53 per cent to 60794.39. On the NSE, the broader NSE Nifty fell 62.55 points or 0.34 per cent to end at 18082.85.

Market circles said the Street is looking at whether the US central bank will continue to remain hawkish or if it will yield some ground in the inflation fight.

Latest data which indicated a strong labour market has moderated optimism that the Fed will lower the pace of hikes to 50 basis points from its next meeting in December.

The job openings number for September showed that the US economy is not cooling as per the Fed’s expectations.

"With the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) outcome around the corner, profit-booking and a risk-off mood dragged the domestic market to trade with cuts. Meanwhile, strong US employment figures dented expectations for a slowdown in rate hikes. Since the market has already priced in a 75 basis points rate hike by the Fed, the market movement will be determined by their comments on its next moves,” Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Bharti Airtel was the top loser among the Sensex pack, falling 3.05 per cent. It was followed by Maruti Suzuki, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, HCLTechnologies, IndusInd Bank and Titan which fell up to 2.40per cent. However, Sun Pharma, ITC, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy’s and Reliance Industries were among the gainers.

Analysts added that if the Fed signals that it will continue with the same pace of hikes, the markets could come under pressure.

The rupee depreciated 21 paise to close at 82.80 against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking a muted trend in domestic equities ahead of the release of the US Fed’s policy statement.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened strong at 82.64 and witnessed a high of 82.62 and a low of 82.81.