Market extends losses as RBI keeps repo rate unchanged

The domestic share market indices Sensex and Nifty experienced volatile trading on Thursday, following the Reserve Bank of India's decision to keep interest rates unchanged, as anticipated. The central bank maintained its hawkish stance due to persistently high food inflation. At close, the Sensex was down 581.79 points or 0.73 percent at 78,886.22, and the Nifty was down 180.50 points or 0.74 percent at 24,117.
India's real GDP is projected to grow by 7.2 percent in the fiscal year 2024-25, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das. The announcement was made on August 8, as part of the central bank's latest economic outlook. Meanwhile,The monetary policy committee of the central bank decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent, according to information.
Highlights of Trade:
●Bharat Forge rises 4% post Q1 result,
●RBI keeps rate unchanged at 6.5%,
●Apollo Tyres shares drop 3% on reporting PAT of Rs 302 cr,
●Godrej Consumer falls 4% after firm missed Q1 estimates,
●BSE shares surge 8% on solid Q1 earnings,
●Sensex opens 300 pts lower, Nifty below 24,250
HDFC Life,Tata Motors, SBI Life Insurance,HDFC Bank and Cipla were the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included, LTIMindtree, Grasim Industries, Asian Paints, Power Grid Corp and Infosys.On the sectoral front, except pharma, healthcare and media, all other indices ended in the red with metal, realty, oil & gas, information technology down 1-2 percent.The BSE Midcap index was down 0.4 percent and Smallcap index ended flat.
Rupee Close:
On 8 Aug'24,the Indian rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled for the day lower by 1 paisa at 83.96 against US dollar on Thursday, after the Reserve Bank expectedly kept the benchmark interest rate and stance unchanged for the ninth straight policy meeting.
Forex traders reportedly stated weak domestic markets, surge in crude oil prices and foreign fund outflows weighed on the rupee. However, a decline in the US Dollar index prevented the local unit from declining sharply.
Trading Guide:
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services reportedly quoted as saying, the domestic market reversed its earlier gains as the RBI's decision to hold its current policy with a caution to revise upward the CPI and moderate the growth forecast for Q1. Meanwhile the global market is focusing on US job data and the probability for deeper slowdown has raised concerns that the US economy is heading for a recession, forcing the federal reserve to cut rates faster than initially expected. Market experts have recommended three stocks to buy today- GNFC, NBCC, and Crompton Greaves.

(Writer is a Finance Research Analyst, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat)