Markets vault after RBI's liquidity boost

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex soared over 986 points on Friday after RBI's second batch of stimulus measures lifted sentiment amid the coronavirus gloom.

Announcing a slew of liquidity-boosting measures for NBFCs and other segments, the RBI further eased bad-loan rules, froze dividend payment by lenders and pushed banks to lend more by cutting the reverse repo rate by 25 basis points. After starting over 1,116 points higher, the 30-share BSE Sensex pared some early gains to end 986.11 points or 3.22 per cent higher at 31,588.72. Similarly, the NSE Nifty zoomed 273.95 points, or 3.03 per cent, to finish at 9,266.75.

Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging 13.45 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank (9.89 per cent), IndusInd Bank (9.13 per cent), Maruti (7.36 per cent), TCS (5.32 per cent), Kotak Bank (4.96 per cent)and Reliance Industries (4.86 per cent).