BENGALURU, Dec 21 Reuters Indian shares swung to losses on Wednesday as the market registered its slowest trading day on record, ahead of the release of the Reserve Bank of India39;s RBI latest policy meeting minutes and key U.S. macroeconomic data.

The Nifty 50 index closed 1.01 lower at 18,199.10 and the SP BSE Sensex fell 1.03 to 61,067.24. Both benchmarks had risen nearly 0.5 during the session.

Trading volume on the Nifty 50 was at 187,594,000, when markets closed, the lowest ever on record, according to Refinitiv data.

Dullness is expected and will likely continue till the yearend as foreign institutional investor activity dies down around this time of the year, said G Chokkalingam, founder, Equinomics Research Advisory.

The focus is now on the RBI minutes, as investors seek to understand its assessment of inflation and growth.

The central bank, in its monthly bulletin on Tuesday, said inflation may be slightly down, but it is certainly not out, but sounded optimistic about the nearterm economic growth outlook.

RBI39;s bulletin signalled that India39;s growth will be driven by domestic demand, Anita Gandhi, director at Arihant Capital Markets said, adding that indicators such as advance tax and GST collections and auto sales have shown strength.

Investors also await a host of macroeconomic data from the U.S., due later this week, to gauge the Federal Reserve39;s rate hike path.

Barring pharma and information technology, all the other stocks logged…