The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex on Wednesday rose 174.33 points (0.55%) to close at 31,671.71. The National Stock Exchange Nifty finished 55.40 points (0.56%) higher, ending at 9,914.90. Both indices surged after the Reserve Bank of India kept its interest rates unchanged after a two-day meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee.

The biggest gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma, Tata Motors DVR, Reliance Industries, ITC and Kotak Mahindra. The top five losers were Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Maruti Suzuki.

Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Aurobindo Pharma, ITC and Kotak Mahindra gained the most on the Nifty. The five worst performers were Bharti Airtel, UPL, Eicher Motors, ICICI Bank and Coal India.

Among other Asian markets, the Hong Kong Hang Seng rose by 205 points. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed over 12 points up, the Shanghai SE Coporate Index rose over 9 points, and the Taiwan TSEC 50 Index was up 4.19 points.

The Indian rupee appreciated 42 paise against the United States dollar and was trading at Rs 65.07 to the greenback at 3.52 pm.