Equity indices trade flat as RBI keeps interest rates unchanged

At 10:25 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 94 points or 0.18 per cent at 52,327 while the Nifty 50 gained by 31 points or 0.2 per cent to 15,721.

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices traded flat during early hours on Friday as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained status quo on key interest rates.

At 10:25 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 94 points or 0.18 per cent at 52,327 while the Nifty 50 gained by 31 points or 0.2 per cent to 15,721.

Except for Nifty FMCG and metal which dipped slightly, all other sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive terrain with Nifty realty moving up by 1.2 per cent and private bank by 0.3 per cent.

Among stocks, the early gainers with thin margins were Coal India, Larsen & Toubro, ONGC, Asian Paints and HDFC Life.

However, those which lost were Hindalco, Nestle India, Eicher Motors, Cipla and Hindustan Unilever.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower as signs of a strengthening US recovery boosted bets for higher inflation and an earlier tapering of Federal Reserve stimulus.

Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.8 per cent while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was off 0.3 per cent.