Today, the markets took a u-turn after falling during the day. The markets were down 700 pts intraday but later recovered and closed higher with banking, auto, and financial stocks leading the way. Sensex was up 268 points and closed at 71,822. Nifty rose 97 points to end at 21,840.

1. Indian markets closed higher, led by financials and IT stocks. Now this is ahead of the US inflation report that could help shape the Federal Reserve's rates outlook and determine the timing of interest rate cuts.

Weakness in broader markets and small caps added to this too. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index settled with declines of over 4% with just 10 stocks closing in the green in the 100-stock index. The top gainers were Jubilant Ingrevia, Medanta operator Global Health and JBM Auto, which ended with gains of 13%, 6.32% and 4.20%, respectively.

Sensex pack: SBI, Sun Pharma, and ICICI Bank were the top gainers, rising 2-3.5%. Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Titan, and Asian Paints also closed with gains, while M&M, Airtel, NTPC, Tata Steel, and JSW Steel closed with cuts.

The RBI left the rates at 6.5% following the end of its 3-day monetary policy meeting. This is the sixth consecutive time the central bank has left policy rates untouched and the longest pause in rates since 2008 in a rising interest rate environment.

From the Sensex stocks, SBI was the top gainer, rising over 4%. JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Axis Bank, and Asian Paints also closed higher, while Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, Infosys, TCS, and HDFC Bank closed in the red.

L&T, Infosys, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, SBI, and Tech Mahindra also closed higher. Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, ITC, Kotak Bank and Bajaj Finserv closed with cuts.

From the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finance and Bharti Airtel were the top laggards, falling over 3% each. Maruti, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech, and Titan also closed with cuts, while Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Power Grid, and M&M closed with gains.

Nifty hit a record high of 22,126.80 but the markets still closed lower at the time of closing. Sensex erased its 1000-point gain and closed 441 pts higher at 72,086 while Nifty closed at 21,854.

The Nifty Bank outperformed the benchmark indices on Budget Day and rose nearly 200 points to close at 46,188. Stocks that led the rally for Nifty Bank include names like PNB, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank, SBI, and HDFC Bank.