The Sensex extended its winning run for the fifth session, finishing at a fresh lifetime peak on Friday after the Reserve Bank kept interest rates unchanged but continued its accommodative stance and announced fresh liquidity measures to revive growth.
The 30-share BSE benchmark briefly crossed the 51000-level, before ending 117.34 points or 0.23 per cent higher at its fresh closing record of 50731.63. The 50-share NSE Nifty scaled the 15000-mark during the day but shed some ground to close at its all-time high of 14924.25, up 28.60 points or 0.19 per cent.
SBI was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 10.69 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Dr Reddy’s, UltraTech Cement, ITC and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Maruti and HCL Tech were among the laggards, tumbling up to 3.30 per cent.
Industry pleased
India Inc saw the RBI’s first monetary policy review after the budget as its commitment to take the economy on a path of robust recovery. “The direction of the policy statement is positive. It is reassuring to note that the RBI continues with its accommodative stance to accelerate economic growth. The recovery signs are getting stronger, and the guidance provided by the central bank reflects its commitment towards supporting growth,” Ficci president Uday Shankar said.
Assocham Secretary General Deepak Sood said the RBI''s monetary policy review has injected a power-packed accelerator to take the Indian economy on a path of robust recovery ensuring stability on inflation.
