Sensex extends losing run to 4th day as RBI hikes policy repo rate

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 8 (ANI): The Indian stock markets' key indices, Sensex and Nifty, closed in the red for the fourth straight day on Wednesday as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked policy repo rate by 50 basis points to tame inflation.
The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex slumped 214.85 points or 0.39 per cent to 54,892.49 points against its previous day's close at 55,107.34 points.
The markets witnessed volatile trading. The Sensex started the day in the positive at 55,345.51 points but slipped into negative soon after the opening of the trade. The index rose sharply after RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced the decisions of the monetary policy committee on rate hikes. However, it witnessed selling pressure later in the day and closed in the negative.
The Sensex touched a high of 55,423.97 points and a low of 54,683.30 points in the intra-day.
This is the fourth straight day of decline in the benchmark Sensex. The index had lost 567.98 points or 1.02 per cent on Tuesday.
The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange slumped 60.10 points or 0.37 per cent to 16,356.25 points against its previous day's close at 16,416.35 points.
The Nifty had lost 153.20 points or 0.92 per cent on Tuesday.
The markets witnessed volatile trading after RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced monetary policy decisions.
The RBI Monetary Policy Committee on Wednesday hiked the policy repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.9 per cent and raised the inflation projection for the current financial year to 6.7 per cent from its earlier estimate of 5.7 per cent. However, the central bank has retained the GDP growth projection for the current financial year at 7.2 per cent.
Energy, telecom, FMCG and private banking stocks slumped.
The index heavyweight Reliance Industries Limited slipped 1.74 per cent to Rs 2724.30. Bharti Airtel dipped 3.31 per cent to Rs 663.20. ITC fell 2.03 per cent to Rs 268.25.
Asian Paints, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank and Hindustan Unilever were among the major Sensex losers.
Tata Steel jumped 1.70 per cent to Rs 1086.75. State Bank of India jumped 1.66 per cent to Rs 471.05. Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 1.52 per cent to Rs 4205.10. Bajaj Finance, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan and Maruti Suzuki were among the major Sensex gainers. (ANI)