SENSEX BREACHES 45,000 MARK, NIFTY CLOSES AT FRESH HIGH
MUMBAI: Equity benchmarks rallied to record highs on Friday after the RBI left the policy rates unchanged but maintained its accommodative stance and revised upwards the growth forecast for this fiscal.
Breaching the 45,000-mark for the first time, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged 446.90 points or 1% to finish at 45,079.55. Intra-day, it touched a lifetime peak of 45,148.28.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty touched a new high of 13,280.05 during the session, before finishing 124.65 points or 0.95% higher at 13,258.55—its record closing high. Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year bond yield fell 3 basis points to 5.90%.
Earlier in the day, the RBI left interest rates unchanged for the third straight time amid persistently high inflation, but said the economy was recuperating fast and would return to positive growth in the current quarter itself. The RBI now expects a milder 7.5% contraction in the fiscal year to March 2021 as opposed to its October forecast of a 9.5% shrinkage of the GDP.
Rate-sensitive banking, financials, realty and auto stocks rallied after the policy announcement. ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 4.20%, followed by UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, HUL, SBI, L&T, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank. On the other hand, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech, HDFC and NTPC closed in the red, slipping up to 0.86%. During the holidaytruncated week, the Sensex rallied 929.83 points or 2.10%, while the Nifty jumped 289.60 points or 2.23%. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading with gains in early deals.
Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures advanced 1.81% to $49.59 per barrel. The rupee snapped its two-day losing streak to close 13 paise higher at ₹73.80 against the US dollar.
THE MARKETS RALLIED AFTER RBI SAID FY21 GROWTH WILL SHRINK BY 7.5%