Mumbai, Dec 6 : The Indian stock market closed flat on Friday after the announcement of the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decisions on repo and CRR rates, as selling was seen in IT, financial services, and pharma sectors and buying was seen in auto and metal stocks.  At closing, Sensex settled at 81,709.12, down by 56.74 points, or 0.07 per cent, and Nifty ended at 24,677.80, down by 30.60 points, or 0.12 per cent. The result of the RBI MPC meeting saw the repo rate kept steady but a 50 basis point cut in CRR was seen as a major highlight. By maintaining the repo rate at 6.5 per cent and implementing a 50 bps CRR cut to 4 per cent, the central bank has infused Rs 1.16 lakh crore into the banking system.

Nifty Bank ended at 53,509.50, down by 94.05 points or 0.18 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 58,704.60 at the end of trading after gaining 263.05 points or 0.45 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 19,492.10 after rising 158.55 points or 0.82 per cent. In the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance, Infosys, and UltraTech Cement were the top losers, whereas, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Maruti, L&T and ITC were the top gainers. Krishna Appala of Capitalmind Research said the broader markets witnessed a good recovery this week, with the Nifty 50 gaining 3.2 per cent, while the Midcap and Smallcap indices rose by 3.5 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively.

"FIIs also signalled a slow return, as data from the first week of December revealed a net cash market inflow of approximately Rs 14,000 crore. This comes as a welcome relief after the relentless selling pressure witnessed in November," Appala added. Vipul Bhowar, Senior Director-Listed Investments, Waterfield Advisors said the RBI’s repo rate decision reflects a careful balancing act between managing inflation and fostering economic growth in the context of challenging circumstances and an unpredictable global economic environment.

/IANS