Market may edge lower in early trade tracking weakness in Asian bourses. Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 21 points at the opening bell.

Overseas, most Asian stocks edged lower after the dollar and US Treasury yields spiked following big news out of the Federal Reserve. US stocks closed at record highs yesterday, 20 September 2017, after the Federal Reserve indicated another rate hike this year was possible and that it would begin the unwinding of its balance sheet next month.

US central bank, at the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy meet yesterday, 20 September 2017 left rates unchanged. Fed stated that it will begin in October rolling off its $4.5 trillion balance sheet, most of which consists of the Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities.

Closer home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1185.44 crore yesterday, 20 September 2017, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 946.23 crore yesterday, 20 September 2017, as per provisional data.

Among corporate news, Reliance Industries' (RIL) subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) issued a press release to the stock exchanges in response to queries from media. Jio said it is committed to implementing the most efficient telecommunications network in India and passing on the benefits of technology to Indian customers. Jio offers free voice services to all its customers backed by a superior technology and has helped make India the world's largest mobile data consuming country within one year of commencement of services.

Implementation of Bill & Keep regime will help in making services more affordable for Indian customers, Jio said. It should have been implemented in 2014 as envisaged in the 2011 Report submitted by TRAI to the Supreme Court and will be six years too late, it added.

Jio said it has always offered free voice services to its customers. There is no question of any advantage from the new interconnect usage charge (IUC) regulation to Jio as it has already passed on all the benefits to customers. It denied any benefits to Jio. At a time when the world is moving towards IP-based technologies, cost of voice has come down to a fraction of a paisa and the customers should enjoy this advantage, Jio said.

References to financial stress in the industry or the need for IUC to promote rural coverage again shows the attitude of the incumbent operators wherein IUC is being treated as a subsidy that the Indian customers must pay to sustain these operators financially, Jio said. On the contrary, it is a fact that the high cost IUC regime thus far has caused financial stress for the smaller and new operators, it added.

Technology is fast determining growth opportunities in the world. It is the responsibility of all the operators and other stakeholders to work together to achieve the vision of Digital India and transform the digital landscape of India. A forward-looking regulatory regime will contribute in achieving that vision, Jio said. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 September 2017.

Key benchmark indices settled near the flat line in a range-bound trading session yesterday, 20 September 2017. The Sensex had fallen 1.86 points or 0.01% to settle at 32,400.51, its lowest closing level since 15 September 2017.