The Indian indexes got off to a good start on Thursday. At the outset, the Sensex had risen more than 300 points, while the Nifty had gained over 100 points. Investors responded favourably to the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to leave key interest rates unchanged on Thursday.

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The central bank forecasts 7.8% GDP growth in FY23, 5.3% CPI inflation in FY22, and 4.5% inflation in FY23. On Thursday, the release of US inflation statistics and the start of the UP Assembly elections will be in the spotlight. Markets in Asia were mixed, with shares rising in Japan and Australia but falling in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Shanghai.

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Following the Reserve Bank of India’s strategy of maintaining the status quo, the Nifty Bank index surpassed 39,000. The RBI maintained the repo rate steady on Thursday, but what surprised investors were the RBI’s decision to keep the reverse repo rate constant. There were predictions that the RBI will raise the reverse repo rate and shift its policy from accommodative to neutral in unison with hawkish global central banks in response to growing inflation.

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The Sensex is trading at 58,789.86, up 323.89 points or 0.55% from a low of 58,332.28. The index saw 20 stocks advance and 10 stocks fall, with the Nifty now trading at 17,571.55, up 107.75 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 17,427.15 and 17,575.40. On the index, there were 34 stocks that advanced and 15 stocks that declined.

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The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.12%, Bankex up by 0.96%, Power up by 0.82%, PSU up by 0.75% and IT up by 0.75%, while Telecom down by 0.55%, FMCG down by 0.41%, Consumer Disc down by 0.21%, Auto down by 0.14% and Consumer Durables down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

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The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 1.83%, Tata Steel up by 1.66%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.58%, HDFC Bank up by 1.43% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.41%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.25%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.89%, Asian Paints down by 0.75%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.51% and ITC down by 0.48% were the top losers.