Sensex Down 100 Points, Nifty Above 22,800 Ahead Of RBI Policy Outcome

Indian benchmark indices fell up to 0.15 per cent on Friday. Investors await the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC’s) interest rate decision due today.

The BSE Sensex was quoting at 75,005, down 70 points, while the Nifty50 was at 22,797, down 24 points.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap shed 0.16 per cent, but the BSE SmallCap edged 0.34 per cent higher.

Among sectors, the Nifty IT, and Realty indices gained over 1 per cent each, while the Nifty Bank fell 0.3 per cent.

Global Cues

Asia-Pacific markets showed a mixed trend, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 experiencing a 0.14 per cent decline, while the broad-based Topix index was flat, up by 0.05 per cent.

South Korea’s Kospi index witnessed a 0.81 per cent increase. On the other hand, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose by 0.16 per cent.

On Thursday in the US, the S&P 500 closed slightly down from it’s all-time intraday high earlier in the day. The Nasdaq Composite saw a marginal decrease of 0.09 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up by 0.2 per cent.

Australian shares were poised to mark their strongest week in four, with the market advancing for a third successive session on Friday, primarily driven by increases in commodity-related stocks. Attention turned towards the upcoming U.S. jobs data for additional market direction.

As of 0031 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.3% at 7,843.3 points. Thus far in the week, the benchmark has accumulated a gain of over 2%.