Sensex up by 369 pts at 11 a.m as RBI keeps rates unchanged

India's key benchmark equity indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- extended their gains from the previous session and traded on a positive note in early trade on Thursday.

As the news of the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee decision to keep the key interest rates on hold trickled in, gains in financial, IT and metal shares pushed the indices higher.

The MPC voted unanimously to keep the repo rate unchanged at 4 percent and voted 5:1 to continue with an 'accommodative' stance for as long as necessary to revive growth on a sustainable basis.

Accordingly, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the central bank maintained the repo rate, or short-term lending rate, for commercial banks, at 4 per cent. Likewise, the reverse repo rate was kept unchanged at 3.35 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the 'Bank Rate' at 4.25 per cent.

At 11 a.m., Sensex traded at 58,835, up 369 pts or 0.63 per cent from the previous close, Nifty traded at 17,589 points, up 0.72 per cent or 125 points from the previous close.

Among stocks, ONGC, Power Grid Corporation of India, HDFC, Tata Steel, and Infosys were the top five gainers, rising 3.7 per cent, 1.7 per cent, 1.7 per cent, 1.5, per cent, and 1.4 per cent, respectively.

Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paint, Coal India, and ITC, on the other hand, were the stocks that declined in the early trade, NSE data showed.