Stock Market: Sensex Jumps 550 Points, Nifty Near 17,000-Mark After RBI's 50 Bps Rate Hike

Stock update: Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, Titan, UltraCemco, HDFC, Reliance emerged winners on the Sensex platform

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, which stared trade in the red amid weak global cues, rebounded sharply following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) hiked repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) on Friday. This move, which was more or less predictable, was cheered by domestic investors and has lifted the mood of the market that was reeling under across the board selling for the past one week.

Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday announced a 50 basis point hike in the repo rate to 5.9 per cent. 

At 11.45 am, the BSE Sensex was up 548 points to 56,958, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 16,957, up 157 points.

On the 30-share BSE platform, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, Titan, UltraCemco, HDFC, Reliance emerged winners, while on the flip side, Dr Reddy, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, and Hindustan Unilever were the major laggards.

In the broader markets, Nifty SmallCap 100 and Nifty MidCap 100 indices rose 0.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively. Volatility gauge, India VIX, meanwhile, slipped over 3 per cent.

Sectorally, rate-sensitive sectors like Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Bank gained the most - over 1 per cent. Besides, Nifty Realty, and Nifty Auto indices climbed in the range of 0.2 to 0.8 per cent.

In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE Sensex fell 188 points (0.33 per cent) to settle at 56,409 points. The Nifty dipped 40.50 points or 0.24 per cent to end at 16,818.10 points.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were quoting lower while Seoul traded higher. The US markets had ended sharply lower on Thursday.

“Markets are expected to be volatile before the announcement of RBI's policy decision scheduled today. Weak global cues will continue to rupture any intra-day strength in the Nifty,” Prashanth Tapse - research Analyst, senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

The international oil benchmark Brent crude futures dipped 0.19 per cent to $88.32 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 3,599.42 crore on Thursday, according to data available with the BSE.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 24 paise to 81.49 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday ahead of the RBI monetary policy decision. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.60 against the dollar, then touched 81.49, registering a gain of 24 paise over its previous close.