The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) brought cheer and optimism to the bulls on Dalal Street after announcing a bumper repo rate cut of 50 basis points, along with easing cash reserve ratio (CRR) requirements, on Friday, June 6.

At close, the Sensex was up 746.95 points or 0.92 percent at 82,188.99, and the Nifty was up 252.15 points or 1.02 percent at 25,003.05. About 2163 shares advanced, 1712 shares declined, and 127 shares unchanged.

Banking and financial stocks received a boost after the Reserve Bank of India announced a 100 basis point reduction in the cash reserve ratio (CRR), to be implemented in four phases of 25 basis points each on September 6, October 4, November 1, and November 29.

On the sectoral front, the Bank Nifty surged to a new all-time high of 56,695.00, rising 1.5 percent. Nifty PSU Bank and Private Bank indices also gained 0.6 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. The Nifty Realty index jumped over 4.5 percent, while the Auto and Financial Services indices were up 1.5 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. All sectors, barring the media index, traded with sharp gains.

Broader markets joined the rally, with both the midcap and smallcap indices advancing around up to 1.2 percent. Market volatility also eased, as the India VIX dropped 3.5 percent to 14.56.

During the April meeting, the RBI MPC cut the lending rate by 25 basis points to the 6 percent mark, down from 6.25 percent earlier, marking the second consecutive rate cut. With the 50 basis points cut, the repo rate stands at 5.5 percent. With the 50 basis points cut seen today, the repo  rate stands at 5.5 percent.


IndusInd Bank Ltd's shares rose over four percent post-RBI officials' comments on the lender's recent troubles, including accounting lapses. "IndusInd Bank has taken enough steps to improve accounting practices. The bank is doing well on the whole," said Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra at the post-monetary policy press conference in Mumbai.

Gold finance stocks rallied after RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra stated that the loan-to-value for gold loans below Rs 2.5 lakh is set to be revised to 85 percent from 75 percent,  giving NBFCs greater lending flexibility. This led to sharp buying in gold financiers like Muthoot Finance, Manappuram Finance, and IIFL Finance, with their stocks rising between 2 to 7 percent.

The biggest Nifty gainers included Shriram Finance, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, while losers were HDFC Life, Bharat Electronics, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma.

More than 110 stocks on the BSE touched their 52-week highs, including Godrej Industries, Muthoot Finance, Bajaj Holdings, Manappuram Finance, SBI Cards, Maharashra Scooters, MCX India, AU Small Finance, HDFC AMC, HDFC Bank, Fortis Healthcare, SRF, APL Apollo, Welspun Corp, Abbott India, Anupam Rasayan, Bharat Electronics, AstraZeneca Pharma, Solar Industries, Lloyds Metals, among others.