Sensex, Nifty slip as investors await RBI decision

The Indian markets closed lower on Thursday as investors were cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announcement on February 7.

Sensex fell 213.12 points, or 0.27% to close at 78,058.16. It swung between 78,551.66 and 77,843.99 during the day.

Nifty too ended lower by 92.95 points, or 0.39% to close at 23,603.35. It touched a high of 23,773.55 and a low of 23,556.25.

Thirty stocks of Nifty closed in the negative.

Trent, Bharat Electronics, Bharti Airtel, ONGC and Titan were the top losers, down 8.39% each.

Adani Ports, Cipla, Infosys and Dr. Reddy’s Labs were the gainers, up to 2.51% during the day.

The broader market was also in the red. Nifty Midcap100 fell 1.26% and Nifty Smallcap100 0.30%.

Sectoral indices on NSE were mixed.

Nifty Auto, FMCG, Consumer Durables, Realty and Financial Services fell 2.19% each.

Nifty Bank, IT, Pharma, Private Bank and Healthcare was up 0.64% each.

“Around the current levels, that is, 87.30/40, the depreciation in rupee evens out with the level of depreciation in the emerging market currencies and the Latin American and African currencies,” said Dr Joseph Thomas, Head of Research, Emkay Wealth Management.

He added that we should not underestimate the likelihood of larger dollar inflows into the country on account of repatriation by companies mainly tech companies who may have receivables from overseas business.

Gold was flat with minor loss, trading at Rs 84,450 in MCX, while Comex gold corrected to $2,850.