Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, adding 2.14%, followed by Infosys, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC.
The equity markets extended gains for the third straight session on Thursday, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained its accommodative stance in the monetary policy to support growth. The central bank also left all key interest rates unchanged in its policy review, against expectations of a hike in the reverse repo rate. The real gross domestic product (GDP) growth was projected at 7.28% for FY23.
After surging as much as 594.27 points during the day, the Sensex settled 460.06 points or 0.79% higher at 58,926.03 – with 27 of its constituents ending in the green. The Nifty-50 gained 142.05 points or 0.81% to close at 17,605.85.
Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, adding 2.14%, followed by Infosys, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC. On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki, UltraTech Cement and RIL were among losers.
Naveen Kulkarni, chief investment officer, Axis Securities, said: “The markets cheered RBI’s first monetary policy for the calendar year 2022 as it kept key policy rates unchanged and continued with its accommodative stance. RBI’s continuation of policy support is decoupled from the global central banks, which are adopting policy normalisation, citing heightened inflationary pressure. The RBI, on the other hand, expects inflation to peak out soon, forecasting lower inflation for FY23 at 4.5% from 5% earlier.”
Among the sectors, strong buying was seen in rate-sensitive banking stocks, resulting in a 1.04% jump in the Nifty Bank index. Metals and IT were other sectoral gainers adding over 1% each. In contrast, automobile and PSU bank counters ended marginally lower. The overall market breadth was negative as nearly 1,777 shares declined and 1,564 shares advanced on the BSE. Analysts are of a view that the positive momentum in the Nifty can continue up to 17,800-18,000 levels, and metals, realty, media and financials will remain in action.
Elsewhere in Asia, too, markets ended in the green ahead of the US inflation data. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.4% while China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended higher by 0.1% each.
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