Indian markets closed in the red on the day the RBI cut both the repo rate and the cash reserve ratio by 25 basis points.
The BSE Sensex fell 112 points (-0.6 per cent) from its previous close to end the day at 19,991. The NSE Nifty closed at 6050, down 25 points (- 0.4 per cent).
“Indian equity markets ended with losses as market participants seemed to discount the event (the rate cut). In fact the market gave away all its intra-day gains amid selling pressure in realty, auto, oil & gas sectors. The mid-cap and the small-cap stocks also witnessed selling pressure. Only the FMCG sector saw some defensive buying with stocks like ITC and HUL featuring among the gainers,” said an end-of-day report by India Infoline.
On the BSE, only the FMCG sector index was up, at 0.7 per cent. The BSE realty index was down the most, at about two per cent, followed by the oil&gas sector at 1.4 per cent and the auto sector at 1.1 per cent.
Among the Sensex stocks, the top five gainers were ITC, Coal India, ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp and HDFC. The top five laggards were Bajaj Auto, Hindalco, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and BHEL.