Sensex sheds 47 points.
Markets retreated from their record highs today after the Reserve Bank left the key policy rate unchanged, in line with Street expectations. The 30-share BSE Sensex stayed in the red zone throughout the session, shuttling between 29,954.25 and 29,817.59, before finishing at 29,927.34, down 46.90 points, or 0.16%. The wider NSE Nifty hit a low of 9,218.85 before recovering partially to settle at 9,261.95, still down 3.20 points or 0.03%. It had touched a high of 9,267.95 and a low of 9,218.85 intra-day.
A rally in real estate counters helped both the key indices recover from their day's lows. Reserve Bank left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 6.25% for the third monetary policy review in a row today citing upside risk to inflation. RBI however increased the reverse repo rate -- which it pays to banks for parking funds with it -- by 0.25% to 6%, narrowing the policy rate corridor. The central bank also raised the growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.4% from 6.7% in 2016-17. "With no major surprises from RBI, markets stabilised, but will await the NPA resolution measures that are widely expected shortly. "Q4 numbers should take centre stage from here on, but global cues could also hold sway in the coming days specially with US markets beginning to show vulnerability ahead of jobs data," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net buyers on the domestic bourses, snapping up shares worth a net Rs 340.13 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released b the stock exchanges. A total of 17 scrips in the 30-share Sensex pack ended lower while 13 closed higher. The BSE realty index emerged the top sectoral gainer, rising 2% as shares of DLF, Unitech, Prestige Estates, Oberoi Realty, Sobha Ltd and Godrej Properties rose by up to 4.48%.
Among other rate-sensitive counters, SBI tumbled 1.35% while ICICI Bank fell 1.40%. HDFC rose 0.47%. Broader markets were mixed, with small-cap index falling 0.23% while mid-cap rising 0.15%. Among BSE sectoral indices, FMCG slumped 0.79%, followed by consumer durables (0.64%), healthcare (0.63%), capital goods (0.21%), bank (0.21%) and auto (0.08%). However, the market breadth remained positive as 1,469 stocks ended higher, 1,413 declined, while 137 ruled unchanged.
The total turnover fell to Rs 3,600.82 crore from yesterday's closing level of Rs 4,390.72 crore. Global cues were lower as well. Federal Reserve minutes suggested the US central bank was considering steps that could result in a further tightening of monetary policy. In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei ended 1.40% lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.52%. China's Shanghai Index, however, rose 0.33%. European markets too were trading in the negative terrain in their early deals. Frankfurt's DAX 30 fell 0.41% while Paris CAC 40 was down 0.07% in their early deals. London's FTSE shed 0.49%.
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