Sensex, Nifty 50 on RBI MPC announcement day: The stock market went into the red upon opening as trading began on Friday, February 7, the day the new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Sanjay Malhotra is set to announce the interest rate decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

At 9:20am, the benchmark BSE Sensex was down by 79.83 points or 0.10%, reaching 77,978.33. The broader NSE Nifty opened 19.50 points down or 0.08% in the red, reaching 23,583.85.

The MPC decision announcement is at 10am.

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Which stocks fell the most?

Among the 30 Sensex stocks, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd fell the most by 2.76%, trading at ₹273.50. This was followed by ITC Ltd, which fell 1.11%, trading at ₹436.50, and SBI, which fell 1.00%, trading at ₹744.80.

Only 11 out of the 30 Sensex stocks were in the green.

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How did individual sectors perform?

Among the Nifty sectoral indices, the Nifty Media index fell the most by 0.94%, reaching 1,622.90, followed by the Nifty Oil & Gas Index, which fell 0.85%, reaching 10,504.10, and Nifty FMCG, which fell 0.73%, reaching 55,434.80. The Nifty FMCG Index had seen falls on open from at least Tuesday.

The Oil & Gas Index had risen rose the most on Wednesday. Its contrasting fall today comes amid a rise in global oil prices.

Brent crude was up 0.55% or by $0.41, trading at $74.70 per barrel for April 2025 futures, according to Bloomberg data, while WTI Crude was up 0.52%, or by $0.37, trading at $70.98 per barrel for March 2025 futures.

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How did the stock market perform during the previous session?

The stock market closed in the red on Thursday, dragged down by real estate, consumer durables, and mid and small cap financial services stocks.

The Sensex closed in the red by 213.12 points or 0.27%, reaching 78,058.16. The broader Nifty closed 92.95 points or 0.39% in the red, reaching 23,603.35.

“The Nifty’s drop yesterday pushed it back below the falling trendline it broke above of two days ago, so this lack of upside follow through shows resistance at higher levels,” said Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities. “A break of either zone will determine the next tactical trend, which may be triggered by the RBI’s rate decision today – the market will be watching the commentary from the MPC more closely given that a 25 bps rate cut is already well priced-in.”

Among the 30 Sensex stocks, Bharti Airtel Ltd fell the most by 2.47%, closing at ₹1,619.55. This was followed by Titan Company Ltd, which fell 2.28%, closing at ₹3,410.75, and NTPC Ltd, which fell 2.13%, closing at ₹312.75.

Only 10 out of the 30 Sensex stocks were in the green.

In terms of sectors, the Nifty Realty Index fell the most by 2.19%, closing at 916.80. This was followed by Nifty Consumer Durables which fell 1.84%, closing at 38,104.00, and Nifty Midsmall Financial Services, which closed 1.19% down or at 15,304.60.

What are the expectations from the 2025 RBI MPC announcement?

This time, a 25 basis point repo rate cut has been widely expected to take place to inject more liquidity into the market, taking the benchmark lending rate from the current 6.5% to 6.25%.

For the previous decision, the RBI MPC had made a 50 basis point cut in the cash reserve ratio (CRR), making it 4%, but kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5%.

This comes at a time when India’s GDP growth slowed down to a 5.4% for the second quarter of the financial year 2024-25. This was the slowest growth in seven consecutive quarters.

It also comes at a time when inflation for December 2024 was found to have eased down to a four-month low of 5.22%, making the conditions for a potential rate cut more favourable.

“A 25bps rate cut is highly anticipated, along with further initiatives to boost liquidity in the banking sector,” said Abhishek Pandya, Research Analyst at StoxBox. “Recently, the RBI has implemented important measures to enhance liquidity, such as an Open Market Operation of Rs. 60,000 crore and a 56-day Variable Rate Reverse Repo of Rs. 50,000 crore, aimed at sustaining market liquidity.”

“Moreover, inflation indicators have shown improvement, aligning with expectations, as the CPI inflation decreased from a 14-month high of 6.2% in October 2024 to 5.2% in December 2024, primarily due to lower food inflation,” he added.