Markets firm as RBI eases repo, CRR rates by 25 bps

Healthcare, IT indices among top gainers on the BSE

Markets firmed up after the Reserve Bank of India at its policy meeting today announced a cut in the repo rate and cash reserve ratio by 25 basis points.  However, selling pressure at higher levels capped gains.

The 30-share Sensex was up 29 points at 20,133 after touching a high of 20,186 and the 50-share Nifty was up 16 points at 6,090 after touching 6,102 post the policy announcement.

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(Updated at 9:21hrs)

Markets opened flat with a negative bias ahead of  the Reserve Bank of India's third-quarter policy review later today amid expectations the central bank will cut interest rates to boost growth into the Asia's third-biggest economy.

In the monetary and macroeconomic development report released on Monday, the central bank said, “The moderation in inflation during the third quarter of 2012-13 was faster than expected during the second quarter review. If inflation continues to trend down, the monetary policy could increasingly shift focus and respond to growth moderation."

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index Sensex fell 23.05 points and opened at  20,080.30 while the National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty declined 10.10 points  at 6,064.70.

In the results calendar, Glenmark Pharma, Idea Cellular,L&T Finance Holdings  are scheduled to release their third-quarter results today while Balrampur Chini, Titan Industries on Jan 30.

Asian shares rose on Tuesday after strong U.S. data, but  investors remained cautious ahead of more U.S. economic reports  and a Federal Reserve policy decision later in the week.

US orders for durable long-lasting goods such as vehicles, computers and  machinery surged 4.6 percent in December from the previous month, led by a jump  in commercial aircraft orders, data showed Monda.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.04% to 23,663, Taiwan's Weighted index gained 0.66% to 7,765,  Singapore's Straits Times inched up 0.02% to 3,274  while China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.04% to 2,346 and Japan's Nikkei was up 0.6% to 10,892.

Back home, FMCG, auto, IT, technology  indexes gained while oil & gas, PSU, real-estate, power, banks fell on BSE.

Among key Sensex stocks, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank gained 0.3% each, Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra gained 0.1%, BHEL was up 0.09% on BSE.

Among losers, ONGC dropped 1.4%, Dr Reddy's was down 1%, Wipro and Infosys fell 0.8% and 0.2% respectively on BSE.

The broader markets rose with mid-caps  and small-caps  notching up by 0.1-0.2% on BSE.

The market breadth was firm. Out of 708 stocks traded, 429 stocks advanced compared to 251declined on BSE.