Shares of bank, real estate companies gain after RBI announcements

• BSE Bankex rose by 4.12%
• Shares of Axis Bank were trading higher by 12.40%, IndusInd Bank 6.25%, State Bank of India 5.19%, ICICI Bank 2.61%, HDFC Bank 0.21%

RBI has cut its benchmark lending rates by 75 bps.

Interest-rate sensitive bank, realty and auto shares on Friday gained up to 12.40 per cent after the Reserve Bank of India cut benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to deal with the hardship caused due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Shares of Axis Bank were trading higher by 12.40 per cent, IndusInd Bank 6.25 per cent, State Bank of India 5.19 per cent, Federal Bank 4.55 per cent, ICICI Bank 2.61 per cent, RBL Bank 2 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank 1.47 per cent and HDFC Bank 0.21 per cent.

Led by rise in these companies, the BSE Bankex rose by 4.12 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday cut benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to 4.4 per cent to in wake of the outbreak of COVID-19.

The central bank also reduced the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of all banks by 100 basis points to 3 per cent with effect from March 28 for 1 year.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services called the measures "A massive bazooka from the RBI in "mission mode".

He said it is a relief-cum-stimulus package with a big repo cut and even bigger reverse repo cut. This together with CRR cut will be a big stimulus for banks to lend. The combination of measures to boost liquidity, improve monetary transmission and relax repayment pressures will act with force multiplier in the economy.

Among realty companies, Sunteck Realty jumped 9.49 per cent, Prestige Estates Projects 6.09 per cent, Prestige Estates Projects 5.24 per cent, Indiabulls Real Estate 4.89 per cent, Sobha 3.14 per cent, DLF 2.86 per cent, Godrej Properties 0.52 per cent and Omaxe 0.16 per cent.

The realty index was quoting higher by 1.75 per cent.

The auto pack was, however, trading mixed during morning trade. Shares of Ashok Leyland were higher by 6.84 per cent and Tata Motors 1.55 per cent, while Hero MotoCorp was trading lower by 4.67 per cent, Bajaj Auto 3.63 per cent, Apollo Tyres 2.73 per cent and Maruti Suzuki India 2.24 per cent.

"RBI has come out with lots of measures to ensure the stability of the financial system and inject liquidity in the market amid ongoing turmoil of pandemic," said Gupta, Co-Founder & CEO, TradingBells.

He noted that it is a very good policy to cheer the market, but the problem is that the market has already rallied too much from lower levels ahead of policy and real trend decider for the market will be the trend in new cases of Covid-19 globally and locally.

Meanwhile, the domestic equity markets were trading on a weak note with benchmark Sensex quoting 452.53 points lower at 29,494.24. PTI SUM ANS ANS