Equity indices flat ahead of RBI Governor’s press meet

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Equity benchmark indices were flat during early hours on Friday as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das prepared to address a press conference.

Reports said he could announce the continuation of liquidity support measures to support the economy in view of COVID-19 lead countrywide lockdown.

At 9:55 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 34 points at 30,967 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 2 points at 9,108.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty PSU bank up by 1.8 per cent. Nifty metal was down by 1.4 per cent.

Among the gainers were Infosys which moved up by 1.8 per cent to Rs 684.80 per share while State Bank of India ticked up by 1.6 per cent to Rs 154.40 per unit.

Reliance Industries gained 0.54 per cent after global investment firm KKR said it will invest Rs 11,367 crore in Jio platforms. Tech Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank and Asian Paints showed marginal gains.

However, Hindalco, Adani Ports, GAIL, HCL Technologies and Power Grid Corporation were in the negative zone.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong shares tumbled after China moved to impose a new security law on the city after last year’s pro-democracy unrest. That raised the prospect of further straining US-China ties.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell by 3.7 per cent to a seven-week low and pulled down MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan by 1.2 per cent.

Japan’s Nikkei slipped by 0.25 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi fell by 0.7 per cent. (ANI)