RBI maintains status quo, keeps key interest rates unchanged; Here’s how market responded RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy today in which he said that the central bank has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.50% and adopted a stance of ‘withdrawal of accommodation. The RBI governor said, “After a detailed assessment of the evolving macroeconomic and financial developments and the outlook, RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee decided unanimously to keep the Policy Repo Rate unchanged at 6.5%.” When the RBI keeps the repo rate unchanged, it means that the central bank is maintaining the current level of interest rates at which it lends money to commercial banks. “The RBI’s decision to maintain the status quo in its policy has been received positively by the market, despite growing concerns about rising inflation on a global scale. Nevertheless, the impact of this decision is expected to be limited, as the market’s attention is anticipated to shift towards global market dynamics, notably the dollar index and US bond yields,” said Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart. Following the RBI’s decision to maintain the status quo, The Bank Nifty index gained 0.64% to 44, 500.70 during the intra-day trade on Friday. IndusInd bank, Bandhan Bank and Bank of Baroda were among the top stocks to lead the gains. The PSU Bank stocks surged over 1.21% to 5,267.50 during the intra-day trade on Friday. Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India and SBI were among the top stocks to lead the gains. Auto stocks added 0.77% to 16,039.80 during the intra-day trade on Friday. The top gainers included Bharat Forge, Bosch and Mahindra & Mahindra. Realty stocks surged 1.25% to 577.10 during the intra-day trade on Friday. The top gainers included Brigade Enterprises, Godrej Properties, Microtech Developers, Sobha and Prestige Estates.
The move had also prompted the country’s largest organised retailer Reliance Retail to step into the value retail segment with Yousta, which was announced on Thursday. Like Intune, Yousta began its operations in Hyderabad, with plans to expand across the country. Intune has three stores – two in Hyderabad and one in Dombivli, near Mumbai, with plans to add another three more outlets in the coming months.
Nair had admitted on a recent earnings call that the apparel segment in general was witnessing moderation and that the value retail foray by Shoppers Stop could help the company tap into the growing trend for affordable fashion and lifestyle products, aiding sales growth.
That was an important statement for Shoppers Stop, which reported a nearly 37% year-on-year drop in net profit to Rs 14.5 crore in the June quarter of FY24, even as revenue grew only 4.8% versus the previous year to nearly Rs 994 crore.
On a yearly basis, the company had last reported a net profit of nearly Rs 114 crore in FY23 after three consecutive years of loss between FY20 and FY22 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. FY23 topline also jumped nearly 60% year-on-year to Rs 4,022 crore, the highest in six years, its results showed.