Indian stock market's indices Nifty, Sensex, Banknifty extended Thursday’s decline after RBI paused rate cuts, while weak US markets and Asian selloff weighed on sentiment. with IT stocks and other sector also hits as global cues weighing on sentiment
Sensex down by 115 points on Friday; Nifty trades just above 25,500 on Friday. Representational image
After the stock market on Friday opened at a downward trend, the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty continued to trade lower during the afternoon.
As reported by news agency PTI, the downward trend of the market indices is after the RBI decided to pause on the policy rate front, with IT heavyweights facing selling pressure amid a weak trend in the US equities. Fresh foreign fund outflows also dented investors' sentiment.
Extending its decline from Thursday, the 30-share BSE Sensex further edged lower by 368.37 points to 82,945.56 in morning trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 146.7 points to 25,496.10.
How did the monetary policy review impact the stock market?
After a 25 basis point rate cut in December, the RBI on Friday decided to pause on the policy rate front amid geopolitical uncertainties.
This is the first monetary policy review after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the budget for financial year 2026-27, as per PTI.
Announcing the sixth and final bi-monthly monetary policy for the current fiscal year, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to retain the short-term lending rate, or repo rate, at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance.
Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, while asserting about the monetary policy, said, "RBI's monetary policy came exactly on expected lines with no change in rates, and the stance was kept unchanged at neutral," as per PTI.
Top losers and gainers
From the Sensex firms, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Trent, State Bank of India, Bharat Electronics, Tata Steel, Asian Paints and Infosys were among the major losers till the afternoon session.
On the other hand, ITC, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Power Grid were among the top gainers on Friday till afternoon.
Global markets goes bearish
Along with the Indian stock market, Asian markets, including South Korea's Kospi, also traded nearly 3 per cent lower. While Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also declined over 1 per cent. while Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Shanghai's SSE Composite index were quoted higher, as reported by PTI.
US markets ended lower on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite index tumbled 1.59 per cent, the S&P 500 declined 1.23 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.20 per cent.
Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, while briefing about the global downward trend, says, "Global equity markets are trading with a pronounced risk-off bias following sharp losses in the overnight US session. Weakness in global technology stocks and commodities continues to weigh on sentiment, with selling pressure extending into Asian markets," as cited by PTI.
On Thursday, the Sensex dropped 503.76 points, or 0.60 per cent, to settle at 83,313.93. The Nifty declined 133.20 points, or 0.52 per cent, to end at 25,642.80.
(With inputs from PTI)
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