Indian markets wrapped up Friday on a strong note, powered by a rally in rate-sensitive stocks after the Reserve Bank of India surprised with a 25-basis-point repo rate cut, bringing the policy rate down to 5.25%.
The Sensex jumped 447 points to close at 85,712, while the Nifty climbed 153 points, ending at 26,186.
Financials and autos led the charge. SBI, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki and HCL Tech were among the top gainers, each up between 2% and 2.5%.
But zoom out to the week, and the picture is more muted. Both benchmarks were largely flat, while the mid-cap index slipped 0.7% and small caps fell 1.8%.
One notable outlier: IndiGo, which dropped 9% this week as the airline battled widespread cancellations. The regulator has now stepped in with temporary relief.
Global Markets:
Asia had a mixed day. Japan’s Nikkei dropped 1.3% after weak household-spending data, while the MSCI Asia ex-Japan managed a 0.4% rise, heading for a 1% weekly gain. In the West, Nasdaq futures were up 0.4% and S&P 500 futures gained 0.2%, pointing to a steady start.
Rupee & Crude:
The rupee slipped 5 paise to close at 89.94 against the dollar after the policy announcement. Oil was steady. Brent at $63.32 and WTI at $59.71, with crude on track for a weekly gain of nearly 2%.
And that’s your market wrap from ET.
I’m Neha Vashishth. Thanks for listening to ET Market Watch. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you next week.
