Closing Bell: Ahead Of RBI Monetary Policy, Sensex Gains 880 Points, Nifty Settles at 17,177

Tata Steel, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, and Maruti Suzuki are among the top movers

The BSE at Dalal Street in Mumbai

 New Delhi: A day before the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Monetary Policy announcement, Sensex and Nifty rebounded sharply on Tuesday, with BSE surging 880 points to close at 57,634 and Nifty 50 index advanced 264 points to close at 17,177.

Sensex, which plunged 950 points on Monday trade, opened with a positive gap of 378 points, and mopped-up gains as the day progressed rallying all-the way to a high of 57,906. The Sensex pared some gains at close, still finished a healthy 887 points stronger at 57,634.

The NSE Nifty, on the other hand, soared to a high of 17,252, and settled with a gain of 265 points at 17,177.

Investor sentiment got a boost on Tuesday on hopes that the RBI will likely hold off on raising its key borrowing and lending rates on Wednesday, as it adopts a cautious tone amid the spread of the Omicron corona variant, economists and market participants said. Fifty economists surveyed by Reuters in a December 1-3 poll expect the RBI to hold its benchmark repo rate at 4.00 per cent.

Many economists feel that given the uncertainties of the new Omicron variant on the economy, it was better to adopt a wait-and-watch approach despite inflationary pressures.

Nifty Metal, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Realty, IT, Media, Financial Services and Auto indices also rose between 1.6-3 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 1.4 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 1.1 per cent.

Hindalco was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 5.15 per cent to Rs 443. Tata Steel, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, and Maruti Suzuki also rose between 2 per cent and 4 per cent. The BSE firms were able to regain Monday’s market cap loss. The market cap is up over Rs 3 lakh crore on Tuesday.

Globally, Asian shares also staged a recovery on receding worries about the impact of the Omicron variant, while Chinese markets were supported by the central bank easing monetary policy.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 1 per cent and was on course for its biggest jump in two months. Overnight, Wall Street indices rose over 1 per cent.