Sensex Rises 160 Points, Nifty Above 17,500 After RBI Keeps Policy Rates Unchanged

PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing nearly 2 per cent, followed by Infosys, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, HDFC, and NTPC

The RBI kept the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent, maintaining its accommodative stance to revive economic growth boosting investor's sentiments. Image: Getty

New Delhi: The key Indian equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday opened trading on strong gains, extending its rally to the third session after the RBI kept the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent, maintaining its accommodative stance to revive economic growth.

The central bank has also remained reverse repo rate unchanged at 3.35 per cent.

At 10.15 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 160 points higher at 58,626, while the Nifty advanced 48 points to 17,511, as investors' sentiment got boosted after the RBI policy announcement.

PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing nearly 2 per cent, followed by Infosys, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, HDFC, and NTPC.

On the flip side, Maruti, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, and Bharti Airtel were among the losers.

In the previous session, the 30-share index surged 657.39 points to finish at 58,465.97. Similarly, the NSE Nifty jumped 197.05 points to 17,463.80.

“The rate-setting panel of the RBI is widely expected to increase the reverse repo rate or the rate at which the central bank borrows short-term deposits from banks by at least 25 basis points. Along with this, the MPC is likely to change the policy stance to neutral from accommodative,” Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told PTI.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Seoul and Tokyo were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Hong Kong and Shanghai were in the red.

Stock exchanges in the US closed in the positive territory in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.17 per cent to $91.39 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 892.64 crore on Wednesday, according to stock exchange data.