Market ends at fresh peaks post RBI policy

Mumbai: Extending its winning run for the fifth session, equity benchmark Sensex finished at a fresh lifetime peak on Friday after the Reserve Bank kept interest rates unchanged but continued its accommodative stance and announced fresh liquidity measures to revive growth. The 30-share BSE benchmark briefly crossed the 51,000-level, before ending 117.34 points or 0.23 per cent higher at its fresh closing record of 50,731.63. Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty scaled the 15,000 mark during the day but shed some ground to close at its all-time high of 14,924.25, up 28.60 points or 0.19 per cent.

SBI was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 10.69 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Dr Reddy's, UltraTech Cement, ITC and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Maruti and HCL Tech were among the laggards, tumbling up to 3.30 per cent. Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept interest rates on hold while assuring to maintain support for reflating the economy by ensuring ample liquidity to manage the government's near-record borrowing.

The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to continue with the accommodative stance as long as necessary to revive growth and mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the economy while ensuring that inflation remains within the target, Governor Shaktikanta Das said. To absorb higher government borrowings, the central bank provided retail investors a direct option to invest in government securities. It also sapped some fund from banks by raising the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and use the money for more targeted market operations. The developmental measures announced by the RBI included the inclusion of NBFCs in the on tap TLTRO scheme, the incentive to banks to lend to new MSME borrowers through a lower CRR requirement and the further deferment of capital conservation buffer. "RBI has maintained status quo on policy rates on expected lines.