Sensex, Nifty bounce back after a day's breather post RBI policy

New Delhi: After a day's hiatus, Indian equity markets were back in black and ended the week on a positive note, digesting a rate hike of 50 basis points (bps) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), much in line with the Street's expectations.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das-led six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) decided to raise the repo rate by 50 bps and retained its withdrawal of accommodative stance, largely in line with expectations, making it a non-event.

The BSE Sensex remained choppy in the last hour but settled 89 points higher at 58,388. Its NSE counterpart, Nifty50, recovered from day's lows to add another 16 points but ended the week below 17,400.

Broader markets gained in line with the headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices settled with gains. Fear gauge India VIX dropped about 2 per cent but remained near 19-levels.

Despite the rate hike being on the higher side of expectations, the market welcomed the RBI's move of a 50 basis hike with rising bond yields, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"Even though metals prices are softening, RBI decided to keep FY23 inflation targets unchanged at 6.7 per cent, which is above the tolerance level," he added. "However, given that Q3 and Q4 inflation is anticipated to be between 4.0-4.1 per cent, the market is hopeful for the future."

On the Nifty50 Index, Shree Cement jumped close to 3 per cent, whereas Ultratech Cement and ICICI Bank added 2 per cent each. UPL and Bharti Airtel were also among the top gaining bluechips.

Among the losers, Britannia dropped 2 per cent after muted Q1 numbers, whereas Hindalco saw a similar cut on the back of profit booking. M&M, Eicher Motors and Reliance shed 2 per cent each.

In the broader markets, Subex extended its bull run after Jio's partnership, whereas Manappuram Finance jumped after upbeat Q1 numbers. On the contrary, Balkrishna Industries and Welspun corp saw a 7 per cent fall each after a poor Q1 show.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said that the Nifty remained range bound before closing flat for the day. On the daily chart, it formed a Doji pattern which suggests indecisiveness.

"The momentum indicator RSI is in a bullish crossover. The trend is likely to remain sideways to negative as long as it remains below 17,500. On the lower end, support exists at 17,200-17,000," he added.

Asian peers mostly rose during the session, whereas European peers were majorly in red during the early hours. Futures for US indices were signalling a muted start to the trade.