Closing Bell: Market extends gain as Sensex soars by 1016 points, Nifty ends above 17400

Domestic equity bourses Sensex and Nifty soared amid broad-based gains on Wednesday after the RBI kept key interest rates on hold and decided to stay accommodative.

Equity benchmarks extended gains for a second day after the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee held the repo rate at a record low of 4% and maintained an accommodative policy stance to support growth for as long as necessary. During today's trading session, the Sensex surged as much as 1,016 points and Nifty index moved above its important psychological level of 17,450 led by gains in banking, financial services and information technology names.

At the closing bell on December 8, the Sensex was up 1,016.03 points or 1.76% at 58,649.68, and the Nifty was up 293.10 points or 1.71% at 17,469.80. On the market depth, around 2270 shares have advanced, 941 shares declined, and 121 shares remain unchanged.

Among the top gainers on the BSE were Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, SBI, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finserv. Top losers of the day were Kotak Mahindra Bank and Power Grid Corporation.

In today's trading session all the sectoral indices ended in the green, with PSU bank and auto indices rising by 2% each. In the broader markets, BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose over 1% each.

All eyes today were on the RBI policy meet. RBI's benchmark interest (repo) rate currently stands at 4% and the reverse repo rate is at 3.35%. The central bank has kept the key lending rates unchanged for the ninth time.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das commented that the MPC voted unanimously to hold rates and maintain an accommodative stance as long as necessary to push growth while ensuring inflation remains under control.