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Sensex rises over 200 points, Nifty above 23,400 as investors eye RBI MPC meet outcome
Indian stock market traded in the green on Friday, with Sensex and Nifty extending gains for the second consecutive session as investors await the outcome of RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) meeting today.Sensex gained 270 points at 74,629.94, while Nifty 50 rose over 62 points at 23,478.95. This came as India VIX, which measures volatility in markets, fell over 2% to 15.89.Infosys, UltraTech Cement, TCS, Tech Mahindra, M&M and Maruti Suzuki shares gained over 1% each to lead gains on Sensex. Tata Steel shares meanwhile fell over 1% to lead losses on the benchmark index.Broader markets also traded in the green, with Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 indices gaining over 0.3% each. All sectoral indices opened in the green, with Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty IT and Nifty Media rising nearly 1% each. Around 1,824 stocks advanced on NSE, while 523 declined and 101 remained unchanged.What’s moving the stock market upward today?"There are some mild positive indications for the market today. There are signs of weakness in the AI trade in the US, South Korea and Taiwan and rotation away from tech stocks, but it is too early to say whether this will sustain,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.The focus of the market today will be on the monetary policy and the message from the RBI Governor, the analyst said. “The MPC is likely to hold rates with a guidance of a rate hike later in the year to combat inflation which is expected to rise in H2 FY27. RBI is likely to revise the GDP growth for FY 27 downward and CPI inflation upward in the context of the energy shock and its implications,” he added.According to Vijayakumar, the most likely policy action is a ‘hawkish hold’, that is, the RBI would hold the rates without any change but would send a hawkish message that inflation is set to rise and, therefore, expect rate hike later this year. If the RBI decides to act now with a 25 bps rate hike, that will move the banking stocks sharply upwards since they would benefit from rate hikes, he further said. However, a rate hike would be negative for interest elastic segments like automobiles and real estate, the analyst added.Rupee risesRupee meanwhile gained 8 paise to 95.66 against US dollar in early trade. “With India's import bill under pressure from elevated commodity prices and continued FII outflows, participants will closely monitor the Governor’s commentary for cues on inflation, currency stability, and future policy direction,” said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst of Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities.The analyst expects the near-term range for rupee to be 95.25–96.25.FII selling continuesForeign investors continued to remain bearish on Indian markets. FIIs net sold Indian shares worth Rs 4,447 crore on Thursday, according to data on NSE.Notably, FIIs have remained net sellers of Indian equities for five consecutive sessions. (With inputs from agencies)(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)