MARKETS: Sensex up 400 pts, Nifty tops 17,600; Financials, Metals lead

Markets at 12 noon

LIVE market updates: The frontline indices extended gains in noon deals as market sentiment continued to be upbeat after the RBI policy decision. The BSE Sensex was up 500 points at 58,967 levels, while the NSE Nifty50 was 149 points higher at 17,613.

Strong gains in HDFC twins, Infosys, Kotak Bank, SBI and Bajaj Finance were leading the upmove. Financial stocks gained signifcantly as the key lending rates remained unchanged. On the Nifty, ONGC and Tata Steel were the top gainers.

The broader markets, however, were underperforming the benchmarks with the BSE SmallCap and MidCap indices up 0.03 and 0.35 per cent, respectively. In comparison, the Sensex and Nifty were up 0.88 per cent.

Also, READ HERE to know what analysts make of the RBI policy as bond and equity markets turn calmer post the outcome.

Sectorally, the Nifty Financial Services index was up 1.45 per cent, leading gains. Nifty Metals was the other top gainer, trading 1.2 per cent higher.

Buzzing stocks

Shares of New Delhi Television (NDTV) surged 18 per cent to Rs 138 on the BSE in Thursday's intra-day trade after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 27.6 crore in December quarter (Q3FY22). NDTV said its Q3 was the most profitable quarter for the Group in the last nine years. READ HERE.

Adani Wilmar was locked at upper circuit for the second straight day, up 20 per cent at Rs 386.25 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, thus also hitting a new high since its market debut on Tuesday. A sharp rally in market price of Adani Wilmar has seen, the company join an elite group of companies having market capitalisation (market cap) of Rs 50,000 crore. READ HERE IN DETAIL

And, shares ofstaffing firm Quess Corp tumbled on the BSE, trading 11 per cent lower after a moneycontrol report said that that the Group CEO and board member Suraj Moraje is likely to step down from his position. Quoting sources, the report said that Moraje's exit was likely due to differences in strategy between him and company' s promoter Ajit Isaac.
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Markets at 11 AM

LIVE market updates: The equity markets shrugged off day's early volatility and progressed higher as the Reserve Bank of India's status quo policy, keeping key rates unchanged cheered investor sentiment.

The BSE Sensex was now up 414 points at 58,880, while the NSE Nifty was at 17,581, higher by 118 points. The two indices were up by 0.7 per cent each.

"Contrary to many central banks, RBI acted dovish and kept interest rates unchanged with an accommodative stance. There were expectations that RBI may hike the reverse repo rate and may change its stance to neutral from accommodative in tandem with hawkish global central banks amid rising inflation. RBI believes that inflation will peak out soon and there is a need for continuous support to the economy," said said Parth Nyati, founder, Tradingo.

Nyati added that going ahead, it will be important to see how the market will read into this as there could be a risk that RBI will remain behind the curve, which may cause inflation. That said, the overall structure looks bullish for Indian market after a recent correction. Rate-sensitive sectors like infra, real estate, auto, and financial may continue to outperform, he said.

On the bourses, shares of rate sensitives sectors like financials including banks, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs), automobiles and real estate rallied smartly on the accomodative stance of the central bank. READ IN DETAIL HERE.

Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services indices were now trading over 1 per cent each. Nifty Private Bank index was also up 1 per cent, while PSB index recovered its losses, trading in the green zone, up 0.4 per cent.

Among Sensex-shares, Kotak Bank and HDFC were the top gainers, up 2.9 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively, followed by Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finserv, SBI, Infosys, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank. __________________________________________________________________________________

Markets at 10 AM

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices were seen turning into the green zone overcoming the day's volatility after the RBI kept the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent, maintaining its accomodative stance to revive economic growth. The reverse repo rate also remained unchanged at 3.35 per cent.

The BSE Sensex rose over 142 points at 58,608. The NSE Nifty was up 50 points at 17,513. The indices were highly choppy earlier before the policy decision announcement.

Of the 30-sensex shares, only 10 were now trading in the red zone, led by losses in Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Maruti, Bajaj Finserv, ITC, HUL, M&M, ICICI Bank and Reliance, trading 0.5-1.3 per cent down. On the Nifty 50 index, 29 stocks were declining.

Sectorally, Nifty Auto and FMCG indices were leading losers, down 0.3 and 0.7 per cent, while Nifty Metals was the top outlier and was trading 1.3 per cent higher.

Meanwhile, as per a CNBCTV-18 report, state insurer LIC's IPO draft papers are likely to be filed with the SEBI tomorrow as the IRDAI has given it a go-ahead for the public offer.

Among stocks, shares of Solara Active Pharma Sciences were locked at 20 per cent lower circuit limit at Rs 775.05, also its 52-week low, on the BSE on Thursday after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 140 crore in December quarter (Q3FY22), due to lower revenue. READ MORE.

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Opening Bell

LIVE market updates: The key benchmark indices opened with strong gains on Thursday extending the rally into a third session. The BSE Sensex was up 197 points at 58,663, while the NSE Nifty was at 17,534, higher by 71 points.

PowerGrid, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank, NTPC, HDFC, Axis Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank and L&T were the top Sensex gainers, trading 0.2-2.4 per cent higher. ONGC, Tata Motors, and JSW Steel were the top Nifty gainers, up 1-2.5 per cent.

Asian Paints, Maruti, HUL, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Coal India, Indian Oil Corp, and SBI Life meanwhile, were the top losers on the bourses, down 0.4-1.5 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were muted with the former up 0.01 per cent and the latter 0.1 per cent down, respectively.

Sectorally, the Nifty Metal and IT indices were leading gains, trading 0.5 per cent higher each. Nifty Auto and FMCG were weak, while rest of the indices were largely unchanged. Nifty Bank and Financial Services were up 0.12 per cent.

Among individual stocks, Nykaa was trading 4.4 per cent lower on the BSE on the back of its Q3 numbers. The e-commerce company reported a 59 per cent YoY drop in Q3FY22 net at Rs 28 crore. Total revenue however increased 36 per cent YoY to Rs 1,098 crore.

Global cues

The US indices ended with smart gains on Wednesday amid a fall in 10-year Treasury yield. Dow Jones gained 0.9 per cent, the S&P 500 jumped 1.5 per cent and Nasdaq surged 2.1 per cent. On Thursday, the markets will look for cues from inflation numbers, which analysts expect to hit a four-decade high at 7.3 per cent.

Oil prices, also, rose on Wednesday after US inventories reported a decline of 5 mn barrels, indicating higher demand. Brent crude futures advanced 0.9 per cent to $91.55 a barrel, and WTI crude ended 0.3 per cent up at $89.66 a barrel.

Major markets in Asia lacked direction in early trades this morning. Nikkei, Kospi and Taiwan were up – up to 0.3 per cent, while on the other hand, Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite and Straits Times were down – up to 0.3 per cent.