New Delhi | Interest-rate sensitive realty, auto and bank stocks were in the limelight on Thursday after the Reserve Bank of India unexpectedly kept benchmark rate unchanged.
Among the realty counters, Godrej Properties jumped 6.47 per cent, DLF rallied 4.32 per cent, Oberoi Realty (4.09 per cent), Sobha Ltd (1.92 per cent), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (1.50 per cent), Indiabulls Real Estate (1.46 per cent), Macrotech Developers (1.32 per cent), Prestige Estates (1.19 per cent) and Brigade Enterprises (0.55 per cent).
The realty index jumped 2.90 per cent.
In the auto pack, Tata Motors gained 2.61 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra advanced 1.35 per cent, Ashok Leyland (1.26 per cent), Eicher Motors (0.90 per cent), TVS Motor (0.74 per cent), Maruti (0.72 per cent) and Bajaj Auto (0.09 per cent).
The auto index ended with a gain of 0.94 per cent.
Among bank stocks, IndusInd Bank climbed 1.80 per cent, State Bank of India (0.99 per cent), HDFC Bank (0.74 per cent), Bandhan Bank (0.70 per cent) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (0.29 per cent). The bankex index was marginally up.
Bouncing back from the early fall, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 143.66 points or 0.24 per cent to settle at 59,832.97 points.
After raising interest rate by a cumulative 250 basis points in 11 months, RBI on Thursday decided to leave key rate unchanged at 6.50 per cent amid global banking woes that have cast a shadow on the economic outlook.
Most analysts had expected one final hike of 25 basis points in RBI's current tightening cycle before hitting a pause.
"Despite a volatile session, markets remained buoyant for the 5th straight session after RBI became the first central bank to pause rate hikes and also withdraw the accommodative stance," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
Amol Athawale, Deputy Vice President - Technical Analyst at Kotak Securities Ltd, said markets maintained their upward journey led by a sharp rally in realty stocks after RBI paused its rate hike decision that prompted traders to lap up realty stocks on hopes stable interest rates going ahead would revive the sentiment in residential segment.
RBI decision to keep repo rate unchanged comes as a welcome respite for homebuyers and will boost housing demand especially for affordable and mid-income category, according to property developers and consultants.
Umesh Kumar Mehta, CIO of SAMCO MF, said RBI in its act to maintain an equilibrium of growth and inflation has judiciously opted to keep the rates unchanged at 6.5 per cent, diverging from the Fed.
"Equity markets had already started consolidating but now since the interest rates also near the peak cycle, it is an ideal launching pad of new bull market locally and globally," Mehta added.
