Stock market live updates: Sensex gains 412 points after RBI policy outcome, Nifty ends above 17,750

Bankers on Friday said the Reserve Bank's policy review signalling the withdrawal of accommodative measures as the focus shifts to inflation is "pragmatic", which reflects its concern on rising prices.They also welcomed specific moves like allowing interoperability in card-less withdrawal at banks, saying it will give an impetus to QR code-enabled payments, and also the hike in the held to maturity category of statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) securities.

Twitter plans to hold a meeting for employees concerned about Tesla chief executive Elon Musk's influence on the company's board, a Twitter spokesperson said Friday. The Twitter official did not disclose the timeframe or format for the meeting.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said it has imposed a penalty of Rs 93 lakh on Axis Bank for various violations, including those related to KYC guidelines. The central bank has also slapped a fine of Rs 90 lakh on IDBI Bank.

The finance ministry on Friday said over 22 per cent of the verified returns were processed on the same day, while the overall average processing time was only 26 days for ITR assessments in the last fiscal year.

The Union Cabinet on Friday approved a policy that will let firms run by the Central or state governments to surrender non-operational mines without penalty, in a move that would allow the country to auction them off to help boost output.

Welcoming the RBI's move to keep the borrowing costs unchanged on Friday, India Inc said the central bank has maintained a fine balance to support growth as well as keep inflation within the target range amid geopolitical worries.

The Reserve Bank is working with the government to thrash out a payment settlement solution for Indo-Russian trade, which is hit by the economic sanctions imposed on Moscow after it invaded Ukraine, but asserted that any such solution will be 'sensitive' to the prevailing economic blockade, the central bank said.

Low interest rates have served as key catalyst for resurgence of demand in real estate, Shishir Baijal, chairman & managing director at Knight Frank India said

“Despite the disruptions from geo- political challenges as well as inflationary pressures, the RBI recognises the need to maintain economic growth momentum. For the real estate sector, low interest rates for a long period of time has served as a key catalyst for the resurgence of demand. The status quo on repo rates will help maintain the current demand levels as interest rate for both homebuyers and developers are likely to be maintained by financial institutions,” Baijal said.

Staying accommodative is the right approach, says Prasenjit K Basu, chief economist at ICICI Securities

"The MPC sensibly decided to keep monetary policy accommodative despite inflation being marginally above its tolerance band. Two good reasons justify the policy: (a) inflation is high partly because of (external) supply shocks, so reducing aggregate demand (through monetary tightening) will not address the issue; (b) there is a considerable output gap, with the economy having contracted 6.6% in FY21, and estimated to have grown 8.9% in FY22 (far from closing the gap, in an economy with potential growth of 7% annually). Staying accommodative is thus the right approach: loan growth needs to accelerate to enable a rebound in domestic demand, but the RBI will also withdraw accommodation tactically if inflation gets too far from the target," Basu said.

Bond yields jumped to near three-year highs and the rupee strengthened after the central bank hinted at gradually moving away from its ultra-loose monetary policy to counter inflation.

Cabinet approves distribution of fortified rice through PDS and other govt schemes in three phases: Union minister Anurag Thakur

Rupee surges 13 paise to end at 75.90 (provisional) against the US dollar amid RBI maintaining status quo

The rupee appreciated 13 paise to settle at 75.90 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, amid the Reserve Bank of India maintaining status quo on the benchmark lending rate. At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 75.99 against the US dollar and touched an intra-day high of 75.70 and finally closed at 75.90, registering a rise of 13 paise over its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee had declined 19 paise to close at 76.03.

In a bid to check fraud, the Reserve Bank on Friday decided to permit all banks to introduce card-less cash withdrawal through ATMs. Currently, card-less cash withdrawal through ATMs is a permitted mode of transaction offered by a few banks in the country on an on-us basis (for their customers at their own ATMs).

Nifty gainers and losers

ITC, SBI Life Insurance and JSW Steel were among the top Nifty gainers. Cipla, Tech Mahindra and Maruti were among the top losers.

Sensex gainers and losers

Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Maruti, HCL Technologies and Sun Pharma were the top losers. ITC, Dr Reddy's, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan and Reliance were the top gainers.

Markets close

Sensex gains 412 points to close at 59,447, Nifty settles at 17,784

Seeking to facilitate a higher credit flow of individual housing loans, the RBI on Friday extended the rationalised home loan norms by another year till March 31, 2023. In October 2020, the Reserve Bank as a countercyclical measure to deal with the Covid situation had rationalised the risk weights by linking them only with Loan to Value (LTV) ratios for all new housing loans sanctioned up to March 31, 2022.

The Reserve Bank on Friday took steps towards normalisation of liquidity management to pre-pandemic levels, with the introduction of the standing deposit facility (SDF) as the basic tool to absorb excess liquidity, and narrowing the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) to 0.50 per cent from the 0.90 per cent.

In a bid to improve customer service in regulated entities, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said it will set up a panel to review and further strengthen consumer protection."The Reserve Bank has over the years taken a number of measures to enhance consumer protection. These measures include laying down regulatory frameworks on customer service, internal grievance redress and the Ombudsman mechanisms," RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said while announcing bi-monthly monetary policy.