| Sensex halts 3-day losing run, ends 412 points higher, Nifty settles above 17,750 as RBI keeps key rates unchanged | | |  The Indian equity benchmarks settled higher on Friday, halting a three-day losing run after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept key rates unchanged at record lows. The Reserve Bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) held the lending rate, or the repo rate, at 4 per cent. The reverse repo rate, or the borrowing rate, was also kept unchanged at 3.35 per cent.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 412 points or 0.70 per cent to close at 59,447, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 145 points or 0.82 per cent higher to settle at 17,784.
Mid- and small-cap shares finished on a positive note as Nifty Midcap 100 index jumped 0.98 per cent and small-cap rose 0.39 per cent.
14 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- ended in the green. Nifty FMCG (Fast moving consumer goods) and Nifty Metal outperformed the index by rising as much as 2.03 per cent and 2.07 per cent, respectively.
On the stock-specific front, Grasim Industries was the top Nifty gainer as the stock surged 6.09 per cent to ? 1,784.45. ITC, SBI Life, JSW Steel and Adani Ports were also among the gainers.
The overall market breadth stood strong as 2,289 shares advanced while 1,094 declined on BSE.
On the 30-share BSE index, ITC, Dr Reddy's, M&M, Titan, Reliance Industries and Tata Steel were among the top gainers
In contrast, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Maruti, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma and HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank) settled in the red.
HDFC twins have in the past four sessions erased all the gains made on Monday after an announcement on their merger. Both the stocks had rallied nearly 10 per cent on merger plans. |
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