RBI Policy Meet

From PM Modi laying foundation stone of Ram Temple, RBI Policy meet likely to keep lending rate unchanged to Airtel signing Amazon deal, here are the top news of the day

At the start of the week, the market will also take cues from July auto sales numbers which signal a recovery in the sector hit hard by Covid-19

The repo rate has come down by 75 basis points to 4.4 per cent, while the reverse repo rate has been lowered by 90 basis points to 4 per cent now

We believe the debt market is very attractively priced from a short-to-medium term perspective.

While the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI originally was slated to meet in the first week of April, the central bank in a surprise move is holding a briefing today

Following the November print of 5.54%, RBI had sprung a surprise and opted to hold the repo rate at 5.15 per cent. It, however, continued with the accommodative stance as long as it was necessary.

Effectiveness of the policy needs to be questioned

Citing geo-political uncertainties and elevated food prices, the RBI revised inflation projection upward to 3.4 per cent for Q2FY20, while projections were retained at 3.5-3.7 per cent for H2FY20

The central bank is likely to cut repo rate for the fifth time in a row

The MPC has also brought down the projection of GDP growth of 6.9 per cent from 7 per cent, which is not significant but definitely does affect sentiment

State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd and Punjab National Bank are among the nation's biggest banks that increased their benchmark lending rates last week

GDP growth projected to strengthen to 7.4% in FY19, from 6.6% in FY18; 7.3-7.4% in H1FY19 and 7.3-7.6% in H2FY19