Bengaluru, Jan 5 Indian shares struggled for direction on Thursday as investors digested the Federal Reserve agreement for a slower pace of rate hikes, but with a caveat, while the continued slide in oil prices helped cap losses.

The Nifty 50 index was down 0.06% at 18,032.50 as of 10.05 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.14% to 60,509.61. Both the indexes opened higher and climbed 0.4%.

The Nifty and Sensex had slumped about 1% on Wednesday ahead of the minutes of the Fed's last meeting.

Fed’s focus

The minutes showed Fed policymakers still focused on controlling the pace of price increases that threatened to run hotter than anticipated. But they also contained a caution against late-year rate cuts traders have priced in.

Oil prices slid again on Wednesday, taking the drop over the past two sessions to 9.4%, on worries about global growth and rising COVID-19 cases in China. Oil prices rebounded on Thursday but are still below $79 per barrel.

Lower crude prices aid oil-importing countries like India, where crude constitutes the bulk of the country's import bill.

Eleven of the 13 major sectoral indexes were higher, while 35 of the Nifty 50 constituents rose.

Bajaj Finance down 6%

Among individual stocks, Bajaj Finance stock was down about 6% after the Indian shadow lender reported a moderation in loan growth and assets under management in the third quarter.

Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services rose 2% after the central bank lifted curbs placed on the company last year that prevented it from using third-party services for loan recovery.

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