Markets snap three-day losing streak; Nifty settles above 17,780 post RBI outcome; ITC stocks hit 52-week high

8 Apr 2022 , 04:05 PM

Equity benchmark indices snapped their three-day losing run on Friday after the RBI decided to keep the interest rates unchanged and maintain an 'accommodative' stance despite liquidity unwinding by global central banks.

The Nifty gained 145 points to settle at 17,784 and the BSE Sensex also jumped 412.23 points or 0.70% at 59,447.18 as both the indices had hit intra-day highs of 59,654 and 17,843, respectively.

The broader BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose in tandem with the frontline indices and closed 0.9 per cent higher each.

ITC ended as the top gainer as it advanced 4.7 per cent on the Sensex index and hit a 52-week high of Rs268.80. The stock of the cigarettes to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major has rallied 24 per cent in the past six weeks.

Dr Reddy's Labs, M&M, Tata Steel, Titan, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Nestle India, and IndusInd Bank were the other gainers, zoomed-in today’s trade.

On the flip side, only Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, and HCL Tech were the laggards.

On the sectoral front, the Nifty Metal index was the biggest gainer, rising 2 per cent. Meanwhile, the Nifty IT index ended a wee bit in the red.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Friday has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged in its first bi-monthly policy meeting of FY23. This is the 11th time in a row that the central bank has maintained a status quo on the key policy rate.

The repo rate currently stands at 4 per cent and the reverse repo rate has been maintained at 3.35 per cent.