Sensex, Nifty Move In A Range Amid Cautious Trade

Domestic stock markets swung between gains and losses on Friday, a day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the repo rate to a nearly nine-year low. The S&P BSE Sensex moved in a range of 39,279.47, between 39,279.47 and 39,666.6 in intraday trade. The broader NSE Nifty index regained the 11,800 mark in afternoon deals, rebounding from an intraday low of 11,769.50 hit in morning. The 50-scrip benchmark barometer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) logged a swing of 117.85 points.

At 12:16 pm, the Sensex traded at 39,472.99, down 56.73 points or 0.14 per cent from the previous close, and the Nifty was down 5.90 points or 0.05 per cent at 11,837.85.

Top laggards on the 50-scrip index were Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Cipla, Reliance Industries, Coal India and Yes Bank, trading between 1.12 and 2.63 per cent lower. 

Reliance Industries, Yes Bank, Sun Pharma, Coal India, Power Grid and Kotak Mahindra Bank - trading between 0.71 per cent and 1.32 per cent lower - were among the prominent losers on the 30-scrip benchmark index.

Shares of Dewan Housing Finance fell as much as 9.48 per cent to their lowest in over five years, following a slew of credit rating downgrades earlier this week.

Wipro shares, on the other hand, rose as much as 1.01 per cent, a day after the IT services firm said its founder Azim Premji would retire as executive chairman and managing director (MD), and named chief executive officer Abidali Z Neemuchwala as its new MD. The company's board also approved the appointment of his son and whole-time director Rishad Premji as the new executive chairman.

The Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), led by Governor Shaktikanta Das, on Thursday, lowered the key lending rate to 5.75 per cent, a level last seen in September 2010. The six-member committee also changed the policy stance to "accommodative" from "neutral" after latest data showed that the economy grew at its slowest in over four years.