By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares advanced on Friday, led by gains in rate-sensitive sectors like auto and realty, after the central bank stood pat on key interest rates as expected and kept its inflation and growth expectations unchanged.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.35% at 19,614.95, as of 11:23 a.m. IST, and the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.35% to 65,861.30. The benchmarks extended their pre-policy gains.
The Indian rupee was mostly unchanged, while bond yields rose after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it will consider open market operations to manage liquidity.
The RBI’s rate-setting committee kept the key lending rate steady at 6.50%. The central bank also maintained its policy stance of “withdrawal of accommodation” to bring inflation within its target band, while keeping inflation and the growth forecast unchanged.
“The RBI’s decision has been received positively by the market, nevertheless the impact is likely to be limited as attention shifts to global market dynamics, including dollar index and U.S.
bond yields,” said Santosh Meena, head of research at Swatika Investmart.
All 13 major sectoral indexes advanced, with realty gaining 1%.
“The unchanged interest rates will act as a major catalyst for growth in residential real estate market,” said Anuj Puri, chairman of Anarock Group.
Other rate-sensitive sectors like auto, financials and consumer added over 0.7% each.
Tata Consumer , ITC and Titan Company were among the top Nifty 50 gainers.
The more domestically-focused mid-caps and small-caps gained 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.
Among individual stocks, Interglobe Aviation rose over 2% after the airline operator introduced a fuel charge to offset rising jet fuel (ATF) prices.
Kalyan Jewellers jumped 5% after the company said it saw a consolidated revenue growth of 27% in the September quarter.
Pharmaceutical firm Valiant Laboratories listed at a 16% premium to its issue price in its trading debut on Friday.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil, Sohini Goswami, Sonia Cheema and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
