Sensex slips 71 points as RBI holds repo rate, lowers FY20 growth forecast to 5 pc

Equity benchmark indices witnessed volatile session and ended lower on Thursday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) surprised by keeping its interest rates unchanged.

The central bank in its fifth bi-monthly monetary policy repo rate under liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 5.15 per cent and lowered its GDP forecast for 2019-20 to 5 per cent due to weak domestic and global demand.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 71 points lower at 40,780 while the Nifty 50 was down by 25 points at 12,018. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty metal slipping by 2.3 per cent, PSU bank 1.8 per cent, pharma by 0.8 per cent and auto by 0.6 per cent.

But Nifty media moved up by 2.9 per cent and IT by 1.2 per cent. Nifty FMCG and realty too closed in the positive zone.

Among stocks, JSW Steel closed 3.5 per cent lower at Rs 250.65 per share while Tata Steel showed a loss of 2.5 per cent at Rs 399 apiece. Coal India edged lower by 3.3 per cent, Bharti Airtel by 2.6 per cent, IndusInd Bank by 2.3 per cent.

Auto major Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp were down by 1.8 per cent each.

However, Zee Entertainment gained by 6.2 per cent and wound up the day at Rs 298.75 per share. Tata Consultancy Services, ITC, Larsen & Toubro and Britannia witnessed gains of over 1 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks ticked up on signs the United States and China are on track for a preliminary trade deal. Japan's Nikkei stock index was up by 0.71 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng by 0.59 per cent and Shanghai Composite by 0.74 per cent.

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