RBI MPC Meet 2026: Sensex, Nifty Trade Under Pressure After Repo Rate Kept Unchanged, Rate-Sensitive Sectors Mixed

Equity benchmark indices opened in the red on February 6 and continued to stay under pressure after the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee opted to maintain status quo on interest rates and policy stance.

The MPC voted unanimously to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent, and maintained a neutral policy stance, announced RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, citing benign inflation levels, steady growth momentum and rising external uncertainties.

Following the announcement, Sensex slipped as much as 388.58 points, or 0.46 per cent, to hit an intraday low of 82,925.35, so far. Similarly, Nifty 50 declined 150.90 points, or 0.59 per cent, to touch its intraday low of 25,491.90.

However, later the benchmarks pared losses to trade around flat levels.

Rate-Sensitive Sectors Trade Mixed

Shares of rate-sensitive sectors such as banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), real estate, and automobiles traded on a mixed note. Nifty Auto tumbled as much as 1.10 per cent, Nifty Realty plunged as low as 1.50 per cent, Nifty Bank fell up to 0.70 per cent, and Nifty Financial Services dipped as much as 0.57 per cent.

However, as of the time of writing around 11:50 AM, Nifty Auto and Nifty Bank still traded in the red, about 0.20 per cent to 0.50 per cent lower, while Nifty Realty, and Nifty Financial Services traded flat-to-positive.

Losses extended to other sectors as well. Nifty IT traded under pressure amid lingering concerns over AI-led disruption, following the launch of new automation tools for the Claude platform by US-based AI firm Anthropic. The IT index tumbled as much as 2.57 per cent during the session. Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma also declined over 1 per cent each. On the other hand, Nifty FMCG bucked the overall trend, rising over 1.50 per cent, led by gains in sector heavyweight ITC Ltd.

This is a developing story...