Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Friday after a volatile trading session as investors closely tracked the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision. Despite the RBI keeping the repo rate unchanged at 5.25% and maintaining its monetary policy stance, investor sentiment remained subdued, leading both benchmark indices to close in negative territory.
At the close of trade, the BSE Sensex fell 116.67 points, or 0.16%, to 74,243.34, while the NSE Nifty declined 49.85 points, or 0.21%, to settle at 23,366.70. The market witnessed significant intraday fluctuations. In early trade, the Sensex had risen more than 300 points and the Nifty had crossed the 23,500 mark before selling pressure erased gains and pushed indices lower by the close.
Selling pressure in information technology and metal stocks weighed on the broader market. Among the major laggards were Hindalco Industries, Wipro, Trent, Coal India and TCS. Weakness in these stocks added pressure on benchmark indices.
Some stocks provided support and limited losses, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank.
The market's decline followed profit-booking after a b start to the session. As indices advanced during early trading, investors booked gains, resulting in increased selling pressure that wiped out initial gains and eventually led to losses by the end of the day.
The RBI also raised its inflation projection for FY2026-27 to 5.1% from 4.6%. The central bank said higher global energy prices had increased fuel costs. According to the report, petrol prices have risen by around 7.4%, while diesel prices have increased by approximately 8.4%.
Additionally, the RBI lowered its GDP growth forecast for FY2026-27 to 6.6% from 6.9%. The revised estimate is also below the previous financial year's estimated growth rate of 7.6%.
While expectations had emerged that the RBI's policy decision could support market stability, revised inflation and growth projections prompted investors to remain cautious, resulting in continued selling pressure during the session.
