New Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): Indian stock indices opened marginally in the red on Monday, with the benchmarks witnessing mild profit booking. Investors may have taken some money off the table after the indices hit their fresh highs last week.

Indian stock indices touched fresh highs on Friday, largely due to strong cues from US markets and consistent fund inflows by foreign portfolio investors. On Thursday too, they tasted fresh highs.

At the opening bell this morning, Sensex was at 67,728.52 points, down 0.16 per cent, and Nifty at 20,176.80 points, down 0.077 per cent.

This week, investors are likely to tread carefully of the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting scheduled Tuesday-Wednesday. The US central bank in its July meeting raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, the highest in the past 22 years at 5.25-5.5 per cent, in its fight against soaring inflation and bringing it back to 2 per cent.

"Investors should exercise caution, particularly in the over-heated mid-and small-cap segments. Safety is in large-caps," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The benchmark indices added over 3 per cent each, respectively in the past month, after India's economy grew firm in the April-June quarter.

The Indian economy witnessing a firm GDP growth rate of 7.8 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of 2023-24, and continued foreign portfolio investments are likely to have improved investors' sentiment lately. (ANI)