As investors remained cautious ahead of the RBI policy announcement, the Sensex and Nifty opened on a turbulent note on Friday, tracking minor gains in index stalwarts Wipro, Tata Steel, and RIL.

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The Sensex gained 262 points in the first hour of trading before paring most of its gains to trade 7.57 points higher at 59,042.52. At 17,649.20, the Nifty gained 9.65 points.

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Reliance Industries Limited, Tata Steel, Titan, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, and Wipro were among the gainers from the 30-share pack. Tech Mahindra, NTPC, and the HDFC twins, on the other hand, were among the top laggards.

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In the previous trade, the Sensex slumped 575.46 points or 0.97 per cent to settle at 59,034.95. The Nifty also declined 168.10 points or 0.94 per cent to close at 17,639.55.

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“Today’s monetary policy is unlikely to impact the market significantly even if there is a surprise rate hike. That would be interpreted by the market positively indicating that the RBI is not behind the curve,” according to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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The real concern for the market, going forward, would be the aggressive rate hikes and quantitative tightening by the Fed expected in the coming 12 months, he added.

“Crude softening to around $100 is positive while FIIs again turning sellers will provide ammunition to the bears,” Vijayakumar, said.

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In Asia, markets in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo were trading lower in mid-session deals. Stocks in the US ended higher in the overnight session.

Foreign institutional investors continued to offload shares worth Rs 5,009.62 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.

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International oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.34% to USD 100.24 per barrel. Rupee surges 21 paise to 75.82 against US dollar amid RBI maintaining status quo on benchmark lending rate.