Markets end higher
Bharti Airtel was the top Sensex gainer
Markets ended on a positive note in trades to day. The Sensex advanced 115 points to provisionally close at 19,360 and the 50-share Nifty closed higher by 35 points at 5,93 levels.
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(Updated at 1440 hours)
Markets are trading on a firm note post the Reserve Bank of India's mid-quarter monetary policy review after the central bank said that it expects inflation pressure to ease in the next few months, raising the hopes of a rate cut as early as January. The Sensex has advanced 105 points to 19,350 and the 50-share Nifty is up 32 points at 5,890 levels.
Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets ended on a positive note as signs of compromise sparked new optimism that the US "fiscal cliff" budget tussle could be settled before tax hikes and spending cuts begin to bite early next year.
Differences over how to resolve the fiscal cliff narrowed significantly Monday night as President Barack Obama made a counter-offer to Republicans that included a major change in position on tax hikes for the wealthy, according to a source familiar with the talks.
Shanghai Composite advanced 2 points to end at 2,162, Nikkei jumped 94 points to end at 9,923, Straits Times gained 5 points to close at 3,163 and the Seoul Composite index closed higher by 10 poinbts at 1,993. While, the Hang Seng succumbed to the profit booking and closed weaker by 19 points at 22,494.
The European markets have also opened on a positive note tracking gains overnight on Wall Street fuelled by expectation that U.S. politicians were close to a deal to avoid steep tax hikes and spending cuts that threaten the global economy. CAC, DAX and FTSE were up 0.2-0.4% each.
Back home, the RBI kept the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), Repo rate and SLR unchanged. Repo rate was unchanged at 8%. CRR has been kept unchanged at 4.25%. Reverse Repo Rates has been kept unchanged at 7%.
Bharti Airtel is the top gainer among the Sensex stocks, up 3.6% at Rs 311. BHEL, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Sun Pharma, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, Jindal Steel, Wipro, Cipla, NTPC, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank and HDFC are also trading higher by 0.6-3.4% each.
On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, ONGC, TCS, Reliance Industries and Infosys are among the notable gainers.