The BSE Sensex was trading 27 points, or 0.03%, lower at 81,739. The Nifty50 was down 18 points, or 0.07%, trading at 24,690 around 9:19 am.
From the Sensex stocks, TCS, L&T, Tata Motors, Infosys, and HDFC Bank opened with cuts, while ITC, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, M&M, and Sun Pharma opened with gains.
The RBI, which is set to announce its decision at 10 a.m. IST, was initially expected to keep rates unchanged due to persistently high inflation. However, following data released last Friday showing India’s economic growth slowing to a seven-quarter low of 5.4% in the last quarter, expectations of potential policy easing have increased.
Ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) rate decision, interest-sensitive sectors opened mixed. The Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Bank remained flat, while the Nifty Auto surged 0.5%, and the Nifty Realty index fell 0.4%.
Among individual stocks, Ola Electric shares opened over 2% lower after the central consumer protection authority sought additional information from the company regarding the alleged whitewashing of over 10,000 service-related complaints.Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) shares opened nearly 3% higher after the company signed contract for construction and delivery of multi-purpose vessels.Experts View
“FIIs turning buyers in December, in total reversal of their sustained selling strategy during the last two months, has altered the market sentiments in favour of the bulls. Encouraged by the FII buying, retail investors, too, have jumped on to the buying bandwagon. This has triggered short-covering leading to sharp intra-day volatility,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
“The policy response of the RBI and the central bank’s commentary on the growth and inflation outlook will be keenly watched by the market today,” Vijayakumar said.
Hardik Matalia, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, “Nifty can find support at 24,500 followed by 24,400 and 24,300. On the higher side, 24,800 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 24,900 and 25,000.”
Global Markets
Asian stocks slipped on Friday on political ructions in South Korea, while dollar bulls waited anxiously to see if US payrolls challenged or cemented expectations of a rate cut this month.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3% in part due to a 1.7% drop in South Korea’s KOSPI. China’s blue chips rose 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.4%.
Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.6% but is up 2.5% for the week. Data showed that Japan’s local wages grew at the fastest pace in 32 years in October, although markets are still leaning towards no rate hike from the Bank of Japan this month.
FII/DII Tracker
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities of Rs 8,539.91 crore on December 5, on the other hand, domestic institutional investors sold equities of Rs 2,303 crore on the same day.
Crude Oil
Oil prices edged lower on Friday, with weak demand in focus after the OPEC+ group postponed planned supply increases and extended deep output cuts to the end of 2026.
Brent crude futures fell 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $72.03 per barrel by 0336 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 1 cent to $68.29 per barrel. For the week, Brent was on track to drop more than 1%, while WTI hung on to a marginal 0.1% gain.
Rupee Gains
The Indian rupee strengthened on Friday, tracking a rise in most regional peers that were boosted by a softer U.S. dollar, while traders await the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy decision.
The rupee was up about 0.1% at 84.6550 as of 09:30 a.m. IST compared with its close of 84.7325 on Thursday.
(With inputs from agencies)
