The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday slashed the cash reserve ratio (CRR) for banks by 0.5 per cent to make more funds available for lending to spur economic growth, but kept the key policy repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent with an eye on inflation.

The CRR has been reduced from 4.5 per cent to 4 per cent. This is the first time since March 2020 that the CRR has been cut. The CRR is the proportion of deposits that banks have to set aside as idle cash in the system.

The CRR cut will infuse Rs 1.16 lakh crore into the banking system and bring down market interest rates.

The Indian stock market opened flat on Friday ahead of the announcement of the RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting. The market is keeping a close eye on the decision around repo and CRR rates.

At around 9:23 am, Sensex was trading at 81,775.54 after gaining 9.68 points or 0.01 per cent, while the Nifty was trading at 24,712.35 after rising 3.95 points or 0.02 per cent.

The market trend remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,500 stocks were trading in green, while 647 stocks were in red.

According to market experts, FIIs turning buyers in December, in total reversal of their sustained selling strategy during the last two months, has altered the market sentiments in favour of the bulls.

Frontline equity indices ended in green amid volatile sessions on Thursday as buying was seen in the heavyweights IT counters.

At closing, Sensex settled at 81,765, up by 809.53 points, or 1 per cent, while the Nifty ended at 24,708.40, up by 240.95 points, or 0.98 per cent.

Investors' optimism regarding the upcoming RBI interest rate decision is being seen as a major reason for this rally in the stock market.

The RBI monetary policy meeting (MPC) started on December 4 and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the MPC decisions on December 6.

Intraday, Sensex touched 82,317 on the higher side and 80,467 on the lower side.

As per the market experts, the market experienced a sharp recovery from the day's low, closing with strong gains. A positive turnaround from FIIs for the past couple of days to India in expectation of a dovish monetary policy by the RBI supported the sentiment., they added.

Online investment options are rapidly changing the mutual fund industry as the share of direct plans in SIP (systematic investment plan) accounts has reached around 40 per cent from nearly 21 per cent four years ago.

This change in trade shows that people are now giving more preference to investing through direct channels.

Mutual fund investors can choose between both direct and regular plans.

Regular plans of a mutual scheme can be bought through agents and banks. Being an intermediary in distribution, they charge a commission for their services, which is deducted from your investment.

Meanwhile, direct plans of a mutual scheme are commission-free and investors have to complete the investment process on their own.

The Indian stock market opened in green on Thursday, as buying was seen in the Nifty IT sector in early trade.

At around 9:41 am, Sensex was trading at 81,059.44 after gaining 103.11 points or 0.13 per cent, while the Nifty was trading at 24,488.65 after rising 21.20 points or 0.09 per cent.

The market trend remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,291 stocks were trading in green, while 993 stocks were in red.

Market experts said the US markets are in a boom. Fed chief Powell's comment that "the economy is in good shape" is an inspiration for US bulls.

"However, there is a concern that valuations are rising in the US. This concern of high valuation remains for India as well. They said that valuations can rise in a bull market, so caution should be exercised," they added.

Regarding FII sellings, experts said that "FIIs turning buyers is positive for markets, particularly for large caps".

Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, have identified the potential of Janus Sb2XSX' monolayers as promising materials for next-generation electronic devices.

To meet the rising demand for energy-efficient materials with better electronic properties, the team investigated the structural, piezoelectric, electronic, and spintronics properties of the Janus Sb2XSX’

The results showed that these monolayers can bring potential solutions to pressing demands in energy-efficient electronics, flexible devices, and sensors.

“The Janus structure (a material or system that has two distinct sides with contrasting properties) of two-dimensional (2D) materials has become a significant focus in recent research, notably after the successful synthesis of the Janus MoSSe (two-dimensional (2D) material derived from molybdenum disulfide--MoS2), monolayer,” said the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The domestic benchmark equity indices closed in green on Wednesday as buying was seen in PSU bank and realty sectors. The investors are keenly watching the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting which will announce its decision around the repo rate on Friday.

Banking stocks rose amid volatile sessions in the market due to the possibility of Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) cut by the central bank. Sensex settled at 80,956.3, higher by 110.58 points, or 0.14 per cent, while the Nifty ended at 24,467.45, up by 10.30 points, or 0.04 per cent.

Anticipation of CRR reduction energised banking stocks, pushing the Bank Nifty index over 1 per cent higher with the PSU Banking Index outperforming its private sector counterpart, as investors turned optimistic ahead of the RBI monetary policy meeting announcement.

On the broader market front, the Nifty Midcap 100 ended at 58,112.40, higher by 603.40 points, or 1.05 per cent. while the Nifty SmallCap 100 ended at 19,173.55, higher by 170 points, or 0.89 per cent.

With the ongoing rally in the Indian stock market, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) listed companies' market cap has once again crossed Rs 450 lakh crore.

Sensex and Nifty soared more than 4 per cent in the last three trading sessions.

During this period, the market cap of all listed firms on BSE has increased by more than Rs 10 lakh crores. Currently, the market cap of all the listed companies on BSE is more than Rs 454 lakh crore.

The Indian stock market is also witnessing a rise in Wednesday's trading session. At 01.16 p.m., the Sensex was at 81,008 with a gain of 163 points or 0.20 per cent and the Nifty was at 24,487 with a gain of 29 points or 0.13 per cent.

The total amount in the investment corpus of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) more than doubled in the past five years to Rs 24.75 lakh crore in the financial year 2023-2024 from Rs 11.1 lakh crore 2019-20, according to official figures.

EPFO invests funds in accordance with the pattern of investment notified by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance. These investments have been made in Debt Securities and Exchange-Traded Funds, as per the prescribed pattern. As per approval of the 207th meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), EPF, held on March 31, 2015, the EPFO started investment in Exchange-Traded Funds from August 2015 onwards.

The total corpus of various funds managed by EPFO was Rs 24.75 lakh crore as of March 31, 2024, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje informed the Lok Sabha.

The Indian stock market opened in green on Wednesday, as buying was seen in the public sector enterprise (PSE) and IT sectors in early trade.

At around 9:36 am, the Sensex was trading at 80,094.12 after gaining 248.37 points or 0.31 per cent, while the Nifty was trading at 24,534.05 after rising 76.90 points or 0.31 per cent.

The market trend remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,851 stocks were trading in green, while 409 stocks were in red.

Experts said the market has remained resilient amid challenges, so people would be advised to stay invested.

“The signals from the market are a bit confusing. It has ignored the sharp slowdown in Q2 GDP growth. It is remaining resilient despite the massive FII selling. There are many likely headwinds from the Trump presidency. The valuations are elevated with Nifty trading around 20 times estimated FY26 earnings,” they explained.