Sensex up 174 points at 31,671.71 on RBI's policy decision

Mumbai: Stocks ended in positive territory on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank decided to hold rates, underpinned by gains in banking, realty and auto shares, amid continuous capital inflows by domestic institutional investors.

A strengthening rupee, which hit 65.03 against the dollar during the day, pepped up mood. The BSE Sensex ended up 174.33 points, or 0.55 per cent, at 31,671.71. The gauge had gained 337.57 points in the previous three sessions.

The NSE Nifty followed suit and regained the key 9,900-mark to hit a high of 9,938.30 before closing up 55.40 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 9,914.90. The RBI in its fourth bi-monthly review of the current fiscal kept the repo rate unchanged at 6 per cent. The reverse repo has been kept at 5.75 per cent.

Traders said the RBI's decision to keep key the interest rate unchanged was largely in line with investor expectations. Investor sentiment got a boost after eight core sectors grew to a five-month high of 4.9 per cent in August, helped by
robust performance of coal, natural gas and electricity.