Share market today: The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday stayed in the red zone as the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI’s) monetary policy committee (MPC) kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent. The decision was taken with a majority of 4:2. The MPC kept is stance as withdrawal of accommodation. The RBI projected real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 7.2 per cent for the financial year 2024-25 (FY25), and CPI inflation of 4.5 per cent.
At 11.20 am, the BSE Sensex dropped 312 points to 79,156. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 24,208, down 90 points.
Stock update
On the 30-share Sensex platform, PowerGrid, Infosys, L&T, JSW Steel, UltraCemco, Asian Paints emerged losers. On the other hand, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, SBI, TechM, M&M were among the early gainers.
In the broader markets showed mixed trends. The Midcap index dipped 0.23 per cent, while the Smallcap index advanced by 0.25 per cent.
Sectoral update
Sectorwise, most indices were trading lower, led by the Nifty Metal, Nifty IT, and Nifty Auto indices declining up to 1 per cent. On the flipside, Nifty Media and Pharma indices rose 0.15 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex rallied 875 points to settle at 79,468, while the NSE Nifty50 jumped 305 points to 24,298.
"During the last four days FIIs have sold Rs 20,228 crore in the cash market. This is a rational thing to do given India’s elevated valuations and the concerns surrounding recession fears in the US and further issues relating to the unwinding of the yen carry trade," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
Global update
In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong traded higher while Seoul quoted lower. The US markets ended lower on Wednesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,314.76 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.42 per cent to $78.66 a barrel.