Nifty, Sensex Off Day's High As Initial Reaction To MPC Meet Outcome Fades: Midday Market Update

India's benchmark stock indices were trading off their intraday high by midday on Wednesday as the initial reaction to the Monetary Policy Committee meeting outcome faded. The MPC held the RBI's key lending rate steady at 6.5% on Wednesday in line with market expectation.

As of 12:23 p.m., the Nifty 50 was trading 100.50 points, or 0.40%, higher at 25,113.65, and the Sensex gained 268.66 points, or 0.33%, to trade at 81,903.47. The Nifty had surged 0.88%, or 220.90 points, to 25,234.05, and the Sensex rose 0.84% to 82,319.21 after the monetary policy announcement.

"A close above 25,200/82,200 (for Nifty/Sensex) would bring positive surprises, while negative surprises could occur below 24,700/81,000 levels," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities. "The strategy should be to reduce long positions between the 25,150 and 25,200 levels for Nifty. Short-term traders may consider trading long if Nifty sustains above 25,200 with a stop loss below 25,000," Chouhan said.

Infosys Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., State Bank of India, Axis Bank Ltd., and ICICI Bank Ltd. added to the gain in Nifty.

Nestle India Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., and ITC Ltd. weighed on the index.

On NSE, nine out of 12 sectors advanced while three declined. The NSE Nifty FMCG declined the most, and the NSE Nifty Realty rose the most.

The NSE Nifty Pharma rose 1.76% to a record high of 23,178.35, tracking gains in Divi's Laboratories Ltd.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading 1.10% and 1.35% higher, respectively.

On BSE, 17 sectors advanced, and three declined out of 20. The BSE Power was the top performing sector, while the BSE FMCG declined the most.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. Around 2,913 stocks rose, 871 stocks declined, and 111 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.