Rate cut helps D-St pare weekly losses

India's stock benchmarks closed Friday with gains after the Reserve Bank of India lowered key lending rates by 25 basis points and left room for further cuts, helping bourses nearly erase weekly losses from profit-taking in recent sessions.

- AGENCIES

The Nifty rose 0.6% to 26,186.45 and the Sensex added 0.5% to 85,712.37 Friday. They ended flat for the week.

The central bank has now cut rates by a total of 125 basis points since February 2025, the most aggressive easing since 2019.

"Markets are likely to read this as supportive rather than surprising since expectations for a cut had already strengthened after the recent CPI prints softened," said Sonam Srivastava, founder and fund manager at Wright Research PMS.