Sensex breaches 45,000 mark as RBI keeps repo rate unchanged

Equity benchmark indices closed 1 per cent higher on Friday as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept key interest rates unchanged and upped its growth forecast to minus 7.5 per cent during FY21 from minus 9.5 per cent in the October review.

Equity benchmark indices closed 1 per cent higher on Friday as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept key interest rates unchanged and upped its growth forecast to minus 7.5 per cent during FY21 from minus 9.5 per cent in the October review. The BSE S&P Sensex closed 447 points or 1 per cent higher at 45,080 while the Nifty 50 gained by 125 points or 0.95 per cent at 13,259.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty private bank up by 2.2 per cent, PSU bank and FMCG by 1.5 per cent, pharma by 1.2 per cent and metal by 1.1 per cent. Among stocks, Adani Ports emerged as winner of the day with a gain of 4.8 per cent to close at Rs 457 per share. ICICI Bank rose by 4.6 per cent and IndusInd Bank by 2.3 per cent.

Metal major Hindalco ticked up by 4.2 per cent, UltraTech Cement by 3.9 per cent, Sun Pharma by 3.7 per cent and Bharti Airtel by 3.2 per cent. State Bank of India, Hindustan Lever and Grasim too traded with a positive bias. However, those in a negative zone were Reliance Industries, which dropped by 0.8 per cent, HDFC Life, Bajaj Finserv, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Tata Motors.

Meanwhile, Asian shares scaled a record high on the growing prospect of a large US economic package. Hopes that vaccine rollouts will boost the global economy underpinned investor sentiment. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose by 0.4 per cent while South Korea's Kospi was up by 1.3 per cent. But Japan's Nikkei dipped by 0.2 per cent on profit taking. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)