Stock Market: Sensex Down 118 Points, Nifty Trades Below 17,550. All Eyes On RBI MPC Decision

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, HCL, Axis Bank, TechM, ICICI Bank, Maruti, Nestle were among the early losers. Reliance, IndusInd Bank, L&T, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, TCS, SBI emerged winners

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday opened flat ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy decision. The Street anticipates the central bank to hike repo rate again by 25 basis points (bps) to 6.75 per cent to contain inflation.

At 9.35 am, the BSE Sensex was trading at 59,570, down 118 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 17,519, down 38 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, HCL, Axis Bank, TechM, ICICI Bank, Maruti, Nestle were among the early losers. On the flip side, Reliance, IndusInd Bank, L&T, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, TCS, SBI emerged winners.

In the broader markets, Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 indices skid up to 0.2 per cent.

Sectorwise, Nifty Media and Nifty Pharma logged marginal gains in a weak market. Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Consumer Durables, however, declined 0.5 per cent.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the S&P BSE Sensex surged 583 points (0.99 per cent) to end at 59,689. On the other hand, the Nifty50 surpassed the 17,550-mark to settle at 17,557, up 159 points (0.9 per cent).

In Asian markets, Seoul, Japan, and Shanghai were quoting lower, while Hong Kong traded in the green. The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday.

"Ahead of the RBI's monetary policy announcement in the next few hours time, markets are likely to start on a cautious note with a negative bias. The outcome is important as it comes at a time when central banks across the globe continue to tame red-hot inflation," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said in his pre-market opening comment.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.88 per cent to $84.25 per barrel.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought equities worth Rs 806.82 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated by 5 paise to 81.95 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, as investors preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of the RBI policy decision.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 81.95 against the dollar, registering a decline of 5 paise over its last close. In initial trade, the local unit also saw a high of 81.88 against the greenback.

On Wednesday, the rupee gained 42 paise to close at 81.90 against the US dollar.