RBI MPC: Experts decode policy, spell-out their investment bets

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% in its December Monetary policy which is also its last for 2023. While retaining its stance of withdrawal of accommodation, the Central Bank's decision to leave rates unchanged was unanimously voted by the 6-member MPC panel, while the need to retain the stance was voted by 5 out of 6 members.

While the policy was pretty much in line with the Street's expectations, here is how experts reacted to Governor Shaktikanta's monetary policy speech:

Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart
In response to RBI policy decision and Das' confidence in economic growth, our market continues its bullish momentum, with the Nifty reaching a significant milestone of 21,000.

We believe this momentum will persist, potentially experiencing some consolidation along the way.
Banking and financial stocks are particularly well-positioned to outperform, given their current valuations and fundamental strengths.

Nifty can head towards 21,275/21,500 and Bank Nifty can test 48,800/50,000 in the medium term.

Naveen Kulkarni, Chief Investment Officer, Axis Securities PMS has shared his commentary on the market outlook.

While inflation estimates have been retained, near-term inflationary pressures primarily due to food inflation are expected to be visible.

This development could make RBI maintain the status quo on rates in the upcoming meetings before considering rate cuts in the latter part of H1FY25.
With the recent move by the RBI to increase risk weights on personal and credit card loans, we expect credit growth to slow down in these segments.

The Retail and SME segment would lead to credit growth hereon. Pressures on margins for banks will continue.