INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: The BSE benchmark Sensex logged its first loss in nine sessions on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank of India raised interest
Heavy selling was witnessed in shares of Vedanta, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel
Rate-sensitive bank and auto stocks ended in the red, however, realty stocks logged gains.
The BSE Sensex settled at 37,522, down by 85
points or 0.23 per cent, with 13 stocks in the green and 18 in the red.
The NSE Nifty slipped 10 points or 0.09 per cent to 11,346, with 26
stocks in the green and 24 stocks in the red.
Market traded in the lower terrain for the most part of the session, as investors restricted
their bets in anticipation of a rate hike by the RBI.
The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank on Wednesday hiked repo rate
by 25 basis points to 6.50 per cent in its third bi-monthly monetary policy review of 2018-19
However, India's central bank maintained its stance as neutral, citing uncertainty around the CPI print
Justifying the neutral stance, the RBI said it had kept its option open as it needed to monitor domestic inflation outcome carefully over
the next two months.
This was the second consecutive rate hike
In its June policy meet, the RBI had raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent.
The rate hike was in line with market
expectations amid concerns of rising inflation in the wake of falling rupee and wobbly crude oil prices
Moreover, weak global cues offered no hope to Indian stocks
Most Asian and European markets were in the red as the worries of a trade war resurfaced after Trump administration indicated that it may
increase the tariff on $200 billion of imported Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25 per cent.
Vedanta, Maruti and Bharti Airtel stood as
the top losers in the Sensex index.
On the other hand, Coal India, Tata Consultancy Services and Sun Pharma emerged as the top gainers in
the Sensex kitty of stocks.
ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank declined 1 per cent
But Punjab National Bank settled nearly 3 per cent higher
State Bank of India inched up by 0.58 per cent
The BSE Bankex closed with a loss of 0.55 per cent at 30,835
BSE Auto closed at 24,308, down by 0.77 per cent, with Maruti and Eicher Motors tanking up to 2 per cent
Ashok Leyland surged over 5 per cent, whereas Tata Motors erased the losses and settled with a small gain of 0.30 per cent
BSE Realty closed 0.21 per cent up at 2,099, with Godrej Properties jumping over 4 per cent
However, Indiabulls Real Estate and DLF fell up to 2 per cent.
BSE Midcaps and smallcaps outperformed Sensex, rising up to 0.26 per cent.
