The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their three-day losing streak on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India kept rates steady at record lows amid inflationary pressure to support the economic growth amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The Sensex rose as much as 778 points from the day's lowest level and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 17,842 after hitting low of 17,600.
The Sensex advanced 412 points to close at 59,447 and Nifty 50 index rose 145 points to settle at 17,784.
The Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) led by Governor Shaktikanta Das unanimously voted to keep repo rate unchanged at record low of 4 per cent and maintained accommodative. However, the central bank cut the growth outlook and raised inflation target for the current financial year.
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The RBI projected growth projection of 7.2 per cent from 7.8 per cent earlier amid volatile crude oil prices and supply chain disruptions due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
The central bank also hinted towards policy normalisation going ahead as it said will withdraw its accommodative stance to focus on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth, RBI Governor Das said.
Reliance Industries, ITC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan and Asian Paints were among the top movers in the Sensex. They collectively added 300 points towards gain in the Sensex.
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Buying was visible across sectors as all the 15 sector gauges, barring the index of IT shares, ended higher led by the Nifty FMCG index's 2 per cent gain. Nifty Metal, Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables, PSU Bank, Auto and Bank indices also rose between 0.5-2 per cent.
Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.93 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.39 per cent.
Among the individual shares, Ruchi Soya shares from the FPO got listed at Rs 855, a 30 per cent premium from ts FPO price of Rs 650 per share.
Grasim Industries was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 6 per cent to close at Rs 1,784. ITC, SBI Life, JSW Steel, Adani Ports, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Reddy's Labs, Shree Cements, Titan, Coal India, Asian Paints and IndusInd Bank also rose between 1.6-4.7 per cent.
On the flipside, Cipla, Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, HCL Technologies, Sun Pharma, HDFC and HDFC Bank were among the notable losers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 2,292 shares ended higher while 1,094 closed lower on the BSE.
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