Sensex, Nifty tumble after RBI keeps status quo; banking stocks most hit

Indian markets were not entirely happy with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decision of maintaining status quo in the fifth bi-monthly monetary policy.

Both Sensex and Nifty tumbled over 180 points and 70 points respectively, right after the central bank's policy announcement.

At 1451 hours, Sensex was trading at 32,627.81, below 175 points or 0.53%, while Nifty came low by 67 points or 0.66% trading at 10,051.65.

Losers on the BSE index involved Sun Pharma at top spot trading at Rs 513.50 per piece down by 1.94%, followed by State Bank of India at Rs 313.50 per piece down 1.82%, HDFC at Rs 1651.50 per piece down 1.62%, Tata Steel at Rs 665.20 per piece down 1.59%, Bajaj Auto at Rs 3114.50 per piece down 1.47% and Mahindra & Mahindra at Rs 1369 per piece down 1.47%.

Gainers on the BSE were only Reliance Industries trading at Rs 926 per piece up 1.59%, Maruti Suzuki at Rs 8606.55 per piece up 1.30% and Hindustan Unilever at Rs 1275.90 per piece up 1.21%.

On Nifty, almost every sector saw selling pressure from investors.

Nifty Bank plunged by 186 points or 0.74%, trading at 24,939.30.

Public sector banks were the most hit after RBI's policy as Nifty PSU bank index was tradin at 3,762.40 down 70 points or 1.82%. In this index, the stocks who were in negative were - Union Bank at Rs 156 per piece (3.20%), followed by Canara Bank at Rs 366.30 per piece (2.02%), Bank of Baroda at Rs 166.75 per piece (1.91%), SBI at Rs 313.05 per piece (1.90%), PNB at Rs 172.85 per piece (1.76%) and Syndicate Bank at Rs 86.50 per piece (1.54%).

At the same time, Nifty private banks slipped by 87 points or 0.63%, trading at 13,736.60. Under this, the stocks which tumbled were - ICICI Bank by 1.38% at Rs 301.05 per piece, South Indian Bank at 31.25 per piece (0.95%), IDFC Bank at Rs 53.55 per piece (0.84%), HDFC Bank at Rs 1,808 per piece (0.68%), Yes Bank at Rs 306.70 (0.65%), Axis Bank at Rs 531.30 (0.35%) and IndusInd Bank at Rs 1,662.30 (0.19%).

Indian rupee was trading at 64.495 higher by 0.129 paisa or 0.20% against US dollar.

Earlier, RBI Governor Urjit Patel along with six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Wednesday maintained status quo for the second time in a row during fifth-bi-monthly monetary policy of FY18.

Policy repo rate under the  liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) continues to stand at 6%, while reverse repo rate under the LAF remains at 5.75%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25%.

The central bank has also remained firm on its neutral stance, which was changed from earlier accomodative.