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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After a one day blip, equity market once again edged higher on Friday, led by buying in financial, metal and auto stocks. PSU bank stocks advanced the most in trade after state-owned lender, State Bank of India, posted a net profit of Rs 3,581 crore for the March quarter of FY20 (Q4FY20). The profit grew 326.93 per cent from Rs 838 crore clocked in the year-ago quarter (Q4FY19). Sequentially, the profit declined by 35.85 per cent.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 307 points or 0.9 per cent to settle at 34,287.24 while NSE’s Nifty ended at 10,142.15, up 113 points or 1.13 per cent. Volatility index, India VIX, slipped dropped nearly 4 per cent to 28.51 levels.
On a weekly basis, Sensex rallied 5.7 per cent and Nifty added 5.86 per cent.
On the sectoral front, the Nifty PSU Bank index gained around 7 per cent to 1,386.75 levels with all the 13 constituents advancing. Nifty Metal index rallied nearly 4 per cent to 2,049.70 levels. On the other hand, Nifty FMCG was the only index that ended in the red. The index settled 0.27 per cent lower at 29,542 levels.
In the broader market, both the mid and smallcap indices outperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE MidCap index climbed 1.8 per cent to 12,554.16 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index surged 2.51 per cent to 11,855 levels.
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