Equity indices volatile after RBI keeps key rates unchanged

Equity benchmark indices were volatile with a slight positive bias during early hours on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Monetary Policy Committee kept repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent and continue with accommodative stance.

At 10:25 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 113 points or 0.28 per cent at 40,296 while the Nifty 50 gained by 31 points or 0.26 per cent at 11,865.

Except for Nifty FMCG, IT and realty, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with thin margins.

Among stocks, Larsen & Toubro rose by 2.15 per cent to Rs 900 per share. Tata Steel moved up by 1.8 per cent, Cipla by 1 per cent and HCL Technologies by 0.9 per cent.

Private lenders HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank ticked up by 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.

However, those which lost were Hindustan Lever, Nestle India, Bajaj Auto, Tech Mahindra and Tata Consultancy Services.

Meanwhile, Asian shares inched close to two-and-a-half year highs as revived hopes for a US stimulus deal eclipsed weaker-than-expected jobs data.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose by 0.15 per cent. But Japan's Nikkei dipped by 0.1 per cent while futures for the S&P 500 gained by 0.47 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )