Share Market Update: Domestic benchmark indices settled in negative territory second day in a row after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday reduced the repo rate in the first bi-monthly monetary policy meeting of the Financial Year (FY) 2019-20. According to reports, The S&P BSE Sensex slipped 192 points or 0.49 per cent to settle at 38,685. Companies such as Infosys, Reliance, TCS, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank contributed the most to the index's decline. Out of 30 components, 17 scripts ended on negative note. Showing a similar trend, Nifty50 index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too ended below 11,600 level, a drop of 0.40 per cent or 46 points to settle at 10,598. Apart from the auto stocks, pharma, FMCG, media and all other indices ended on a negative note.

Both indexes fell for a second day after gaining over 2.3 per cent each in four sessions to Tuesday’s close. According to news agency Reuters, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and HCL Technologies Ltd were among the top laggards on the NSE index, closing down 3.1 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.

In the Sensex fold, TCS was the biggest loser, sliding 3.17 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, RIL, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank and L&T, down up to 2.34 per cent. On the other hand, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Asian Paints, Vedanta and Sun Pharma were among the top gainers, rising up to 2.49 per cent.

Sectorally, BSE IT, energy and oil and gas indices suffered most losses, shedding up to 1.53 per cent. Rate-sensitive stocks ended on a mixed note, with the BSE auto and realty indices ending in the green with gains of up to 0.61 per cent.

The report further stated that roader indices ended in the red too, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap slipping up to 0.32 per cent. “Investors turned cautious about the downward revision in GDP growth to 7.2 per cent for FY20 while premium valuation and concerns over monsoon further impacted the sentiment,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services told news agency PTI.

RBI on Thursday reduced its repo rate – a rate at which it lends to a bank – by 25 basis points to 6 per cent from 6.25 per cent earlier. This is the second subsequent rate cut by the Central Bank under the new RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.