The trends on Gift Nifty indicate a mildly positive start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 23,715 level, a premium of nearly 25 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.

Highlight: FMCG and PSU Bank shares bore the brunt of the selling on Friday after RBI, as expected, announced a 25 bps rate cut. Mid- and Small-cap indices finished on a mixed note.

The Nifty 50 has dropped 4.4 per cent since the last policy meeting in December, impacted by weak corporate earnings and a slowing economy.

The trends on Gift Nifty also indicate a positive start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 23,810 level, a premium of nearly 35 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.

Despite a 25-basis-point repo rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India, the market closed largely in the red. However, midcap stocks continued to outperform, with the midcap index closing in positive territory.

On NSE, nine sectors advanced, three declined out of 12. The NSE Nifty FMC declined the most, and the NSE Nifty Oil & Gas rose the most. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading higher in early trade.

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).

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 213.12 points or 0.27 per cent to end the session at 78,058.16. The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 68.35 points or 0.39 per cent finishing the day at 23,627.95.

Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, opened slightly higher on Thursday as optimism for an upcoming rate cut outweighed concerns over escalating global trade tensions. IT and oil & gas stocks supported the Nifty 50,