Mumbai’s stock market closed with solid gains on Friday, buoyed by the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee decision. The BSE Sensex surged 266.47 points, or 0.32 percent, to settle at 83,580.40, while the Nifty 50 advanced 50.90 points, or 0.20 percent, at 25,693.70.
FMCG and consumer durables sectors led the charge. ITC skyrocketed 5 percent, and Hindustan Unilever climbed 2.96 percent. Other strong performers included Nifty FMCG up 2.27 percent, Nifty Consumer Durables at 0.96 percent gain, and Nifty Consumption rising 0.71 percent. Realty, private banks, energy, and oil & gas indices also posted healthy advances of 0.63 percent, 0.63 percent, 0.61 percent, and 0.51 percent respectively.
In contrast, IT and pharma sectors faced headwinds. Nifty IT dropped 1.47 percent, followed by pharma at 0.72 percent lower, with defence, healthcare, and auto indices also closing in the red by 0.66 percent, 0.62 percent, and 0.52 percent.
Among Sensex constituents, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HUL, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, M&M, and L&T emerged as top gainers. Tech Mahindra, TCS, Asian Paints, Eternal, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, Infosys, and BEL were the notable losers.
Midcap and smallcap stocks lagged behind largecaps, with Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.02 percent at 59,502.70 and Nifty Smallcap 100 slipping 0.27 percent to 16,938.65.
Sudip Shah, Technical and Derivatives Analyst at SBI Securities, noted that Nifty opened weak, dipping to an intraday low of 25,492, but recovered sharply to close at 25,694. He highlighted resistance levels at 25,750-25,800, with potential upside to 26,000 and 26,200 on a breakout. Support is seen at 25,550-25,500.
Investors now eye global cues and upcoming earnings for the next directional move, as the market digests the RBI’s policy stance amid steady economic indicators.