Cenbank’s interest rate freeze and hawkish comments send shares tumbling

Delhi Delhi. The stock market fell in a volatile session on Thursday as investors booked profits after the central bank kept interest rates steady as expected and maintained its accommodative policy stance as food inflation remained persistently high. The NSE Nifty 50 index closed 0.74 per cent lower at 24,117 and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.73 per cent to 78,886.22. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) did not change rates for the ninth consecutive meeting, while Governor Shaktikanta Das warned against complacency due to a decline in core inflation. The RBI has not changed interest rates since February 2023. The Nifty has gained nearly 36 per cent during this period on the back of strong economic growth, corporate earnings and surplus liquidity. However, equity benchmarks have fallen on a round of profit-booking as they are trading near record highs. “The recent market turmoil did not materially change the agenda for the Monetary Policy Committee today, as the committee continued to adopt an accommodative stance,” said Shilan Shah, deputy chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics. With US recession concerns and high valuations in domestic equities, there could be more profit-booking near current levels, analysts said.