NEW DELHI: After a day’s break on Thursday, domestic equity market on Friday resumed its upward journey with the NSE benchmark Nifty50 surpassing the 21,000 mark for the first time as the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to the key interest rate unchanged for the fifth time in a row and increase growth forecast for the financial year 2023-24 propelled fresh buying.
Following the outcome of the policy meet, the Nifty50 hit its all-time high of 21,006 while the BSE Sensex touched a fresh high of 69,894. After some profit booking amidst increased volatility, Nifty 50 closed at 20,969.40, up 68 points, or 0.33% while the Sensex shut shop at 69,825.60, up 304 points, or 0.44%.
Banking and IT stocks were in high demand on Friday. HCL Technologies, JSW Steel, LTIMindtree, Apollo Hospitals and Infosys were among the top gainers on the Nifty. The top laggards in the 50-share pack were Adani Enterprises, ITC, Adani Ports, Hero MotoCorp and Britannia Industries.
“Upward revision of FY24 GDP estimates by 50 basis points to 7% and the unchanged FY24 CPI estimates at 5.4% signal a robust and steady economic outlook. Overall, the MPC decision appears favorable for the equity markets, providing an additional boost to the already soaring Indian equity markets,” said Apurva Sheth, Head of Market Perspectives & Research at SAMCO Securities.
The two benchmarks recorded their biggest weekly gain since July 2022 as they surged about 3.5% each. The ongoing rally has picked after the victory of PM Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh state elections. The election results coupled with favourable factors such as sharp growth in September quarter GDP numbers, robust GST collections and a fall in consumer inflation made India a very attractive market despite being more expensive than other emerging markets.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI on Friday kept repo rate unchanged at 6.5% and maintained its ‘withdrawal of accommodation’ stance.