The benchmark equity indices traded largely flat through midday on Friday after the RBI monetary policy committee kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% for the seventh straight meet.
At noon, the NSE Nifty 50 traded 13.90 points or 0.06% down at 22,500.75 and the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 38.99 points or 0.05% lower at 74,188.64.
The resistance levels of 22,500 and 22,540 are very important for the Nifty 50 and a clear breakout above these is needed for the bulls to go aggressive at the current juncture, according to Akshay Bhagwat, senior vice president - derivatives research at JM Financial. On the downside, the index can fall to 22,300–22,250 levels.
Realty and bank stocks also gained following RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das' speech.
"This prudent approach could be beneficial for home loan borrowers as any increase in rates might have made loans more expensive," Anuj Sharma, chief operations officer at India Mortgage Guarantee Corp., said. "Home loan borrowers and the real estate sector are hopeful for positive news that will make housing more affordable and boost the economy at large."
Bhagwat recommends trading both Nifty 50 and Nifty Bank with caution. However, if the Nifty Bank crosses 48,200, he suggests a 'buy'. At 12:09 p.m., the Nifty Bank was at 48,273.55 points, up 0.44%.
Shares of Axis Bank Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd. and Larsen & Toubro Ltd. dragged the Nifty the most.
HDFC Bank Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., ITC Ltd. and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. led the gains.
Seven out of the 12 sectoral indices on the NSE gained, with the Nifty Realty rising the most.
The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices as the BSE MidCap index was up 0.43% and the SmallCap gained 0.5%.
On the BSE, 13 sectors advanced and seven declined, with Realty rising the most.
The market breadth was skewed in favour of the buyers as 2,284 stocks rose, 1,375 declined and 143 remained unchanged on the BSE.
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