Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty closes higher after volatile session

Benchmark indices closed in green on Friday in a highly volatile session. Sensex closed 167.06 points higher at 71,595.49 while Nifty closed at 66.40 points higher at 21,848.90.

A day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo rate steady at 6.5 per cent for the sixth time, Indian benchmark indices opened in mixed territory. BSE Sensex opened 18.14 points, or 0.03 per cent at 71,410.30 while NSE Nifty opened 9.00 points, 0.04 per cent at 21727.00. Nifty Bank traded 0.06 per cent in red.

The early hours of Friday’s trading saw buying in big companies like Reliance Industries Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and ICICI Bank. However, the gains in indices picked up as trading hours progressed. Sensex inched 0.11 per cent at 71,477.88 while Nifty gained 0.10 per cent at 21,735.80.

Markets remained barely changed on Thursday after RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced a 5-1 decision of the Monetary Policy Committee to keep short-term lending rates unchanged. Data from the exchanges suggest Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,933.78 crore.

Indian rupee opened flat at 82.96 against the American currency. Dollar index, which compares US currency against six global peers, traded marginally higher at 0.03 points, or 0.03 per cent at Rs 104.06.