Sensex opens with losses; investors wait for RBI’s rate hike decision

Domestic key indices of equity markets made marginal losses during the early trading hours on Thursday.
Investors were in wait-and-watch mode as the outcome of the Reserve Bank of India’s three-day deliberations will be announced by the central bank’s governor in the morning. Global cues seemed weak as central banks across the world remained cautious about the bank crisis. BSE’s 50-share Sensex lost 86 points to 59,603.20 while NSE’s Nifty dipped 25 points to 17,532.15 during the morning trade on Thursday.
In Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.48 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei declined 1.07 per cent, China’s Shanghai dropped 0.28 per cent and S&P ASX dipped 0.26 per cent on Thursday’s morning.
In American markets, Nasdaq 100 dropped 1.01 per cent, S&P declined 0.25 per cent and Dow Jones gained 0.24 per cent.
In European markets, Deutsche Borse dipped 0.53 per cent, FTSE 100 gained 0.37 per cent, and Amsterdam Exchange was trading in the positive territory, as Asian markets opened on Thursday morning.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) started its monetary policy meeting on April 3, 2023. The outcome of the meeting will be announced today at 10 am by Governor Shaktikanta Das. All stakeholders and investors would be watching the outcome keenly which might influence how they buy or sell their stocks in these few days. The RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) is widely expected to hike the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) in order to combat rising inflation.
On Wednesday, key equity benchmarks extended their rising streak for a fourth straight session. Sensex jumped 582.87 points or 0.99 per cent to 59,689.31. The Nifty of NSE rose 159 points or 0.91 per cent to 17,557.05. Both the indices have climbed 3.6 per cent in four sessions.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.11 per cent while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.95 per cent.