Indian shares slip after central bank decision; Reliance drops

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares dipped on Friday after the country’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged, while Reliance Industries fell after India’s top court ruled that an arbitration order stopping Future Retail’s sale of assets to the conglomerate was valid.

At 0535 GMT, the NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.1% to 16,273.05 and the S&P BSE Sensex slid 0.2% to 54,392.86.

Shares of Reliance and Future Retail Ltd dropped as much as 2.3% and 9.9%, respectively, after India’s top court validated an arbitration order stopping the conglomerate’s $3.4 billion deal to buy Future Retail, sources told Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India held the repo rate, its key lending rate, at 4%, and retained the reverse repo rate, the borrowing rate, at 3.35%.

“The outlook for aggregate demand is improving, but the underlying conditions are still weak. Aggregate supply is also lagging below pre-pandemic levels,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in his monetary policy address.

The maintenance of the accommodative stance was expected by the street as markets are at a critical point in the path of economic recovery, Gaurav Garg, head of research at CapitalVia Global Research, said, adding that any tinkering with the policy now would not be wise.

The benchmark 10-year bond yield rose to 6.24%, while the Indian rupee fell to 74.20 against the dollar.

“Cheaper credit seems to have lost lustre due to rising inflation and this may turn out to be an important factor in upcoming months that will chart the course of the market,” Garg also said.

Among other shares, Glenmark Life Sciences rose 9% to 792.80 rupees in its debut in the Mumbai market after its initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed 44 times.

($1 = 74.1050 Indian rupees)

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