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Sensex, Nifty Break 3-Day Winning Run After RBI Announcements
22 May 2020, 04:13 PM IST 
A selloff in banking and financial services shares pulled the markets lower
- The Sensex ended 260.31 points or 0.84 per cent lower at 30,672.59, and the Nifty settled at 9,039.25, down 67.00 points or 0.74 per cent compared to its previous close.
- The RBI cut the repo rate by 40 basis points (bps) to 4 per cent, the lowest since 2000. The central bank also slashed the reverse repo rate by 40 basis points to 3.35 per cent.
- Its announcements followed an emergency meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, and were aimed at countering the economic fallout from the two-month long lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
- RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had voted to maintain its "accommodative" stance, and its members voted in the ratio of 5:1 in favour of the quantum of reduction.
- The RBI has cut the repo rate by a total of 115 bps since the lockdown began in late March.
- Seven of 11 sector gages compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower, led by a 3 per cent fall in the Nifty Financial Service index. The Nifty Bank, Private Bank, PSU Bank, Realty and Metal sector gauges fell between 1 per cent and 2.85 per cent.
- On the other hand, the Nifty IT index was the top gainer, ending 1.4 per cent higher.
- Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed selling pressure, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices declining 0.7 and 0.6 per cent respectively.
- Axis Bank, HDFC, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, JSW Steel and HDFC Bank were among the top Nifty losers. On the flipside, Zee Entertainment, Mahindra & Mahindra, Cipla, Shree Cements, Infosys and Britannia Industries were among the gainers.
- Overall market breadth was negative, as 1,321 shares closed lower while 968 ended higher on the BSE.