Sensex zooms 1,016 points on RBI stance, easing concerns over Omicron

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Extending its winning run to the second session, equity benchmark Sensex zoomed 1,016 points on Wednesday, boosted by RBI’s accommodative stance as well as easing concerns over the Omicron variant. Bulls were enthused by a positive sentiment in global markets amid reports that the new coronavirus strain is unlikely to be more severe than the Delta variant, removing market concern regarding its economic impact.

The 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 1,016.03 points or 1.76% to finish at 58,649.68. Similarly, the NSE Nifty rallied 293.05 points or 1.71% to 17,469.75.

Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 4%, followed by Maruti, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma and Asian Paints.

On the other hand, Kotak Bank and PowerGrid were the laggards.

“Positive global cues, coupled with the continuation of an accommodative policy stance of the RBI by holding rates fired up the bulls even as the central bank decided to enhance the variable reverse repo rate auctions to rebalance liquidity,” said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.

The bullish undertone was reflected in the sectoral indices and advance-declines as the market breadth was healthy with small and midcaps too participating in the rally, he noted.

After the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained status quo on the interest rate and decided to continue with its accommodative stance, most of the rate sensitive stocks ended in the green.

The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to leave repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent for the ninth time in a row as well as continue with its accommodative stance.

Further, RBI retained its growth projection at 9.5 per cent for the current fiscal.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended with significant gains. Stock exchanges in Europe were, however, largely negative in mid-session deals.