Sensex gains in opening trade ahead of RBI policy meet


Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by over 73 points in opening trade on Tuesday, extending its gains for the third straight session despite concerns over an expected hike in key short-term rates by the RBI at its monetary policy review meeting later in the day. A firming trend on other Asian bourses and encouraging Q1 earnings by Reliance Industries mainly buoyed the trading sentiment. The 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, which has gained 435.10 points in the past two sessions, moved up further by 73.31 points, or 0.38 percent, to 18,944.60 points in opening trade today with metal, oil and gas, capital goods and IT stocks attracting interest. In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index gained 21.95 points, or 0.38 per cent, to trade above the psychological 5,700 points level at 5,702.25. Brokers said the market sentiment at home was firm, largely on the back of a firming trend on other Asian bourses and encouraging earnings from the most-weighted firm in the 30-share Sensex index, Reliance Industries Ltd, which posted a growth of 16.7 percent in Q1 net profit. They said, however, concerns that the RBI may announce another hike in key rates in its monetary review to contain inflation capped the gains. In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.01 percent, while Japan's Nikkei gained 0.60 percent in morning trade today.
Source: PTI