Top banking names such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were trading in the 0.5-1 percent range on December 8 morning after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) held repo rates steady at 6.5 percent for the fifth consecutive time.
At 10.10 am, the Bank Nifty index was trading up 0.6 percent at 47,115 levels. Around 9 stocks have advanced in the Bank Nifty index, while 3 shares declined on December 8 intra-day trade.
The benchmark index Nifty50 hit a new high of 21,005, while the Sensex was up around 300 points at 69,888.
The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC), three RBI and three external members, kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent. Five of the six members voted in favour of focusing towards withdrawal of accommodation to check inflation and support economic growth.
"As inflation moderated to 4.9 percent in October, it was seen across all components be it food or coal. This broad-based cooling inflation shows efforts of the RBI's measures. Domestic economic activities, too, is holding up well and is well reflected in India's GDP growth for Q2. We remain highly prepared and alert to take policy actions as warranted," RBI governor Shaktikanta Das.
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The last time RBI hiked repo rate was in February. Since then, it has been keeping rates unchanged.
So far, the central bank has raised repo rate by a total of 250 basis points (bps) since May 2022 in a bid to cool surging inflation. Earlier, India's retail inflation dropped to a four-month low of 4.87 percent in October but is expected to remain above the RBI's 4 percent medium-term for some time.
As per a Reuters poll, 41 economists expect the consumer price index (CPI) to rise at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in November, faster than 4.87 percent in October.
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