The Indian equity benchmarks were trading on a flat note ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision due later in the day. The Sensex traded in a narrow band of 269 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 17,723 and low of 17,650. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will announce the first monetary policy of the new financial year on Friday amid concerns over rising inflation and as per analysts, it is likely to retain accommodative stance.
Experts are of the view that against the backdrop of rising inflation, the RBI is likely to keep the key repo rates unchanged.
As of 9:32 am, the Sensex was up 20 points at 59,055 and Nifty 50 index advanced 14 points to 17,653.
According to a Reuters poll, economists believe that the central bank is likely to delay the first key rates hike, since the pandemic, by at least four months to August.
Asian markets were mostly trading lower as the prospect of aggressive global rate hikes finally began to rattle investors. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.25 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1 per cent and Singapore's Straits Times dropped 0.5 per cent.
Back home, rate sensitive - banking, auto, financial services and real estate shares were trading on a flat note ahead of the RBI's interest rate decision.
Meanwhile, oil & gas, consumer durables, metal and media shares were witnessing buying interest.
Broader markets were outperforming their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index advanced 0.51 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.4 per cent.
