Stock market benchmark Sensex rallied 327 points on Friday as financial stocks advanced following the RBI’s accommodative policy stance and steps to boost liquidity to the banking sector.
Extending its gains for the seventh straight session -- the longest winning streak in almost a year -- the 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 326.82 points or 0.81 per cent higher at 40,509.49.
The broader NSE Nifty rose by 79.60 points or 0.67 per cent to 11,914.20 with banking, IT and infrastructure stocks rising up to 4 per cent.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das’ comments on expectation of GDP turning positive in the January-March quarter of the current financial year fuelled the market rally, traders said.
“Indian indices took a leap today following the positive announcements of TLTRO & OMO, which will help in maintaining a good level of funds available at cheap rates from RBI to the industry,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said. The RBI in its monetary policy on Friday announced that it will conduct on-tap targeted long-term repo operations (TLTRO) worth Rs 1 lakh crore to ensure comfortable liquidity condition in the banking system. As a special case, the central bank also announced open market operations (OMOs) in state development loans (SDL) in the current financial year. Rate-sensitive banking and financial stocks ended on a positive note, with the BSE bankex and finance rising up to 2.64 per cent. Positive announcements with regards to rationalisation of risk weights for all new housing loans until March 31, 2022, was a shot for retail banks and housing finance companies, Paras Bothra, President of Equity Research, Ashika Stock Broking stated.