Profit booking, Asian cues snap equities’ winning streak (Roundup)

Mumbai, Aug 7 (IANS) Profit booking as well as weak Asian cues snapped a four-day winning streak of India’s key equity indices on Friday.

Accordingly, India’s benchmark indices closed in the red even as the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to maintain the repo rate, or short-term lending rate, for commercial banks at 4 per cent.

Besides key rates, the RBI also maintained the policy stance as ‘Accommodative’.

Globally, Asian shares lost ground on Friday as the spread of the Delta variant of coronavirus across the region heightened worries about economic recovery.

Sector wise, power and telecom stocks did well while energy and realty stocks fell.

Consequently, the S&P BSE Sensex closed the day’s trade at 54,277.72, lower by 215.12 points or 0.39 per cent from its previous close.

Similarly, the Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange ended at 16,238.20, down by 56.40 points or 0.35 per cent from its previous close.

“Indian benchmark indices fell on Friday, breaking a four day winning streak even after the RBI kept the repo rates steady at its MPC meet and maintained an accommodative stance,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

“The Nifty after remaining up in the first hour of trade corrected and remained in a narrow band till the end, partly reflecting the weakness in the Asian markets,” he added.

Siddhartha Khemka, Head, Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said: “Domestically, markets declined from their intraday highs, tracking losses in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC and SBI, after the Reserve Bank kept interest rates unchanged and maintained its accommodative stance.”