Indian equity markets registered strong gains thereby welcoming the rate cut by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Despite uncertain global cues, domestic indices kept the momentum going for the day. Strong foreign fund flows has also helped markets hold strong ground. Markets started off on a cautious note awaiting the monetary policy review and thereafter moved higher once the policy was announced. The Reserve Bank of India in its quarterly review meet cut the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 bps to ease tight liquidity pressure in the banking system. RBI kept repo and reverse repo rates unchanged at 8.5% and 7.5% respectively. Market breadth was positive as on BSE,
The BSE Sensex crossed the 17,000 level to touch an intraday high of 17,050 and a low of 16,770 before it closed 1.5% or 244 points higher at 16,996. Midcap stocks moved in tandem with the large cap stocks however it was the small caps which lagged behind. Both the BSE Mid-cap and BSE Small-cap indices edged 1.4% and 0.7% higher respectively. The S&P CNX Nifty too registered a gain of 1.6% or 81 points to close at 5,127 points.
All the sectoral indices on BSE grew with BSE Capital Goods index emerging as the top gainer which rose by 3.3% on the back of strong Q3 earnings posted by index heavyweight L&T. The interest rate sensitive stocks too welcomed the RBI move and advanced for the day. The BSE Bankex, BSE Auto and BSE Realty indices grew by 3.2%, 1.5% and 1.1% respectively. Metal stocks too registered gains with rising prices on LME. The BSE Metal index surged 1.8%. On the other hand, the defensive sectors grew marginally. The BSE FMCG and BSE Healthcare indices inched higher by 0.1% and 0.5% respectively.
Among the BSE – 30 stocks, 8 of them declined while the others surged. Coal India, Sun Pharma, NTPC, Gail and HUL were the top five losers in red which shed 1.4%, 1.3%, 0.9%, 0.7% and 0.5% respectively. On the flip side, the top five gainers were L&T, SBI, Hindalco, M&M and ICICI Bank which grew by 5.6%, 5.2%, 4.6%, 3.6% and 3.3% respectively.
As per the data released by SEBI, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in equity to the tune of Rs 13 crores. Similarly they were net sellers in debt segment to the extent of Rs 270 crores.