Indian Indices End Day Flat; Oil And Gas Stocks Lead Losses

After opening the day in the red, share markets in India witnessed negative trading activity throughout the day and ended the day on a weak note. Losses were seen across most sectors with stocks in the metals sector and stocks in the auto sector, leading the losses.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 25 points (down 0.1%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 14 points (down 0.1%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down 0.2%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 0.5%.

Asian stock markets finished mixed. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was down by 1.5% and the Shanghai Composite was up by 2%. The Nikkei 225 was down by 1.2%. Meanwhile, European markets, were trading on a negative note. The FTSE 100 was up by 0.7%, The DAX, was down by 0.6% while the CAC 40 was down by 0.8%.

The rupee was trading at Rs 64.19 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 64.51 at the time of writing.

In news about the economy. Market participants are closely watching the minutes of The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) bi-monthly monetary policy meet.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the RBI, which kept the policy repo rate unchanged in its February 7 policy review expressed concern about continued inflationary risks, citing factors including high food and global crude oil prices and the government’s decision to increase spending for the year starting in April to support a struggling agricultural sector.

The MPC voted 5-1 at the meeting to keep the policy rate on hold at 6 per cent and to retain its neutral monetary policy stance. RBI Executive Director Michael Patra was the sole member to vote for a 25 basis point hike.

The minutes released on showed widespread concerns among the six MPC members about inflation, which accelerated to a 17-month high of 5.2% per cent in December from a year earlier, driven higher by food and energy.