Indian shares opened marginally higher on Friday, ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy decision, with investors anticipating some form of policy easing after a sharp slowdown in economic growth.

The NSE Nifty 50 was up 0.09% at 24,729.45 points, as of 9:15 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex gained 0.15% to 81,887.54.

Twelve of the 13 major sectors logged gains at the open. The broader, more domestically focused smallcaps and midcaps rose about 0.2% each.

The blue-chip Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex indexes added about 3.3% each in a five-session rally until Thursday, led by a 3.4% jump in financials on growing optimism that the RBI will ease monetary policy one way or the other.

Indian shares inch higher led by financials

The RBI, whose decision is due at 10 a.m. IST, was initially expected to hold rates due to still-high inflation.

But since data last Friday showed India’s economic growth slowed to a seven-quarter low of 5.4% last quarter, expectations of some form of policy easing have risen.

Investors increasingly believe the RBI will ease policy by lowering banks’ cash reserve ratio (CRR), which had sparked the rally in financials.