Sensex jumps nearly 300 points, Nifty touches 11,400 in opening trade

MUMBAI: The S&P BSE Sensex opened 294.62 points higher at 38,401.49, and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark started the session at 11,388.45, up 74.45 points from its previous close as the markets opened on Friday. 

At 9:33 am, the Sensex traded 222.48 points - or 0.58 per cent - higher at 38,329.35 while the Nifty was up 55.80 points - or 0.49 per cent - at 11,369.80. Top gainers on the 50-scrip benchmark index at the time were Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC, SBI and Wipro, trading between 1.18 per cent and 5.76 per cent higher. 

On Thursday, the Sensex and Nifty had declined 0.52 per cent and 0.40 per cent respectively to close lower for a fourth straight session.

Domestic stock markets started the session with sharp gains following four days of fall, ahead of the release of the fourth bi-monthly policy statement of the year by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Gains across most sectors led by banking and financial services shares pushed the markets higher. 

The fourth bi-monthly monetary policy for 2019-20 will be announced by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das-headed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) after its three-day marathon meeting.

There was no meeting of the panel on October 2 on account of Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti.

According to experts, the central bank is likely to announce the rate cut to complement the government's measures like reducing corporate tax and promoting credit offtake to boost economic activity during the festive season amid a slowdown.

If the RBI announces a further rate cut of up to 25 bps, it will be the fifth in a row by the apex bank.

The RBI Governor had already hinted that benign inflation provides room for further monetary policy easing while space for fiscal space is limited.

The government has recently announced a series of measures including the steepest cut in corporate tax, the rollback of enhanced surcharge on Foreign Portfolio Investors, among others to jump-start growth which hit a six-year low of 5 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal.

The RBI is predicted to lower its key lending rate or the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 5.15 percent, which would take cumulative cuts so far this year to 135 bps, according to experts.