Sensex drops over 100 pts as RBI leaves policy rate unchanged

Equity benchmark BSE Sensex dropped over 100 points in the afternoon session on Thursday after the Reserve Bank of India kept the key policy rate unchanged at 5.15 percent and decided to continue with its accommodative stance to support the economy. In the fifth bi-monthly review of the policy, the central bank also revised GDP growth downwards to 5 percent for 2019-20 from 6.1 percent projected in its October policy.

After opening higher by 84.17 points at 40,934.46 in opening deals, the 30-share index pared all gains to turn negative after the policy announcement by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It was trading 100.56 points, lower at 40,749.73 at 1149 hours. Similar movement was seen on the NSE and the broader NSE Nifty was trading 11.25 points, or 0.09 percent, down at 12,031.95 at 1212 hrs.

Top losers in the Sensex pack included Sun Pharma, Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank shedding up to 2 percent. On the other hand, TCS, Tech Mahindra, ITC, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Infosys bucked the trend and were trading in the positive territory with gains of as much as 1.20 percent.

Rate-sensitive banking stocks faced the heat, with the BSE bankex falling 0.36 percent. BSE realty index also turned red. The rupee was also trading lower by 8 paise at 71.61 in the afternoon session.

Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.32 percent to USD 62.80 per barrel.