Indian shares edge higher after central bank keeps rates steady

BENGALURU: Indian shares inched up slightly after the country's central bank kept interest rates unchanged as expected, while traders waited for its commentary about liquidity normalisation.

At 0448 GMT, the NSE Nifty 50 index and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex both gained 0.2% at 16,333 and 54,625.63, respectively.

The country's benchmark 10-year bond yield rose to 6.26% after the decision, while the Indian rupee was 74.11 against the dollar.

The Reserve Bank of India held the repo rate, its key lending rate, at 4%, while also retaining the reverse repo rate, the borrowing rate, at 3.35%.

Indian shares end lower as IT stocks and Reliance drag

"Continued policy support is needed to support nascent and hesitant recovery," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in his monetary policy address.

The central bank to aid the economic recovery has maintained excess rupee liquidity in the banking system, with the daily surplus currently exceeding 6 trillion rupees ($80.97 billion).

The Nifty 50 and the Sensex have risen over 4% each since the central bank's last meeting in June and have hit record highs.

Meanwhile, India on Thursday proposed scrapping a controversial law that taxed companies retrospectively and said it will refund disputed amounts, a move that could potentially settle its multi-billion-dollar tax cases with Cairn Energy and Vodafone.

Shares of life sciences and supply chain management company Take Solutions rose as much as 15.7% to 69.55 rupees. The company said private-equity firm H.I.G. Capital's unit will take a 75% stake in its clinical research organisation business Navitas Life Sciences for $101.6 million.

Shares of Glenmark Life Sciences rose 9% to 792.80 rupees in their debut in the Mumbai market after its initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed 44 times.