Indian sharemarkets ended modestly higher on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the key interest rate in bid to cool stubbornly high inflation and defend the rupee.

Continuous foreign money inflows into the capital markets and declining crude oil prices,  also contributed to the bourses regaining momentum.

The 30-share BSE Sensex faced volatility at the end of trading but closed 89.13 points or 0.15 percent higher at 58,387.93. It increased 350.39 points or 0.60 percent over the day to reach 58,649.19. The NSE Nifty finished at 17,397.50 up 15.50 points, or 0.09 percent.

The key interest rate was raised by the Reserve Bank on Friday by 50 basis points to 5.40 percent, marking the third straight hike since May. With the latest hike, the repo rate or the short-term lending rate at which banks borrow has crossed the pre-pandemic level of 5.15 percent.

The top gainers on the Sensex were UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, Infosys, Wipro, and Axis Bank.  On the other hand, the laggards were Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Reliance Industries, and IndusInd Bank.
Mid-session deals showed a decline in the price of European stocks. On Thursday, the U.S. markets came to a mixed conclusion.  International benchmark Brent crude increased by 0.18 percent to USD 94.29 a barrel in the meantime.

According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors continued to be net purchasers in the capital markets on Thursday, purchasing shares worth 1,474.77 crore.

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