Sensex up 144 points, Nifty nears 17,600 as RBI pauses hike; realty stocks jump


Equity markets turned volatile on Thursday after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent during its bi-monthly policy meeting. This was against Markets’ expectations of a 25-basis point hike. The dovish decision lifted investors’ spirits marginally as governor Shaktikanta Das said the move was only “a pause and not a pivot”.

Given this, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex swung 430 points during the day, before ending 144 points, or 0.24 per cent, higher at 59,833. The Nifty50, too, settled near 17,600-mark at 17,599, up 42 points or 0.24 per cent.

The broader markets, meanwhile, outran the frontline indices with 0.7 per cent gain each on the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices.

Among sectors, rate-sensitive Realty index surged nearly 3 per cent, followed by the Nifty Auto index (up 0.9 per cent), and the Nifty PSU Bank index (up 0.33 per cent). The Nifty IT index, however, capped gains as it fell 0.75 per cent.

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Nifty ends marginally lower but holds above 10,000 , up 1% for week


The benchmark Nifty50 pared losses in the last leg of trade to end the first day of August series above 10,000-mark, up 1% for the week. Sensex, on the other hand, also ended marginally lower for the day but up 1% for the week. The street was dragged down by after Dr. Reddy’s extended fall for the second straight day post weaker Q1 quarterly earnings. Negative cues from Asian markets after US tech shares pulled Wall Street slightly lower also contributed to the losses.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap, up 0.5% and 0.4% respectively.

Focus now shifts to Reserve Bank of India’s two-day monetary policy meeting, which is set to begin next week on Tuesday, while the outcome is expected on Wednesday.

HDFC, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Adani Ports and ONGC gained the most on BSE Sensex while Dr Reddy’s, Sun Pharma, Lupin, ICICI Bank and HeroMoto Corp lost the most on the index

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