Sensex slips 71 pts as RBI holds repo rate; financials decline

Thursday,   05-Dec-2019   04:15 PM (IST)

Markets ended a volatile trading session in the negative territory on Thursday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) paused during the fifth bi-monthly monetray policy and kept the repo rate unchanged a 5.15 per cent. It, however, sharply revised the FY20 gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to 5 per cent from previously projected growth rate of 6.1 per cent on weak domestic and global demand.  The RBI, in its policy statement, said it would maintain the 'accommodative' stance as long as it was necessary to revive growth, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target band of 4 per cent +/- 2 per cent. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex closed at 40,780 level, down 71 points or 0.17 per cent. Information Technology stocks including TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra were among the top gainers among the Sensex pack after the domestic currency fell against the US dollar in the intra-day trade. On the downside, metal and financial counters were under pressure. On the NSE, the Nifty50 index settled at 12,018 level, down 25 points or 0.21 per cent. On the sectoral front, Nifty Media index ended as the top performer, up 3 per cent on NSE, while Nifty Metal index, down 2 per cent, was the worst performer. In the broader market, the S&P BSE mid-cap index slipped 0.23 per cent to settle at 14,868.85. The S&P BSE small-cap index, however, ended 0.1 per cent higher at 13,468.89 level.