Banking shares came in high demand after the Reserve Bank of India said it would ease capital requirement rules.
Investors also drew comfort from a rally in Asian shares, which touched two-month highs on Wednesday as overnight gains in oil prices and a batch of positive economic data from Australia to the United States calmed fears of a global economic slowdown.
The banking sub-index on the NSE, Bank Nifty closed 4.7 per cent higher at 15,092 and the PSU Bank index surged a whopping 10.3 per cent.
Shares of India’s largest public sector lender, State Bank of India advanced over 12 per cent to close at Rs. 182.40. Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, ICICI Bank, Canara Bank and Federal Bank also rallied 6-8 per cent each.
3:06 p.m.: Mahindra & Mahindra was the top loser in the Nifty, down 5.5 per cent to Rs. 1,198 crore. Coal India, Sun Pharma, ITC, Bajaj Auto, BPCL, Dr Reddy’s Labs and Bosch were also among the laggards.
2:28 p.m.: The stock markets were trading firmly higher. The Sensex was up 460 points at 24,239 and Nifty was at 7,372, up 150 points.
1:48 p.m.: The market breadth was positive as 1,896 stocks were advancing while 600 were declining.
1:10 p.m.: BSE FMCG index slipped marginally on account of mild profit taking in ITC after yesterday’s sharp rally. The index was down 0.03 per cent.
12:39 p.m.: Nifty 7,500 strike price call option was the most active options contract on the NSE. Premium on the contract surged 88 per cent to Rs. 72.50. As many as over 1.4 lakh shares were added to the open interest of over 5.42 million shares.
12:21 p.m.: State Bank of India was the top Sensex gainer, up 8.8 per cent to Rs. 176.60. BHEL, Adabi Ports, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, NTPC, HDFC and Tata Motors also advanced 3.4-6.7 per cent each.
11:48 a.m.: The BSE Realty index advanced nearly 5 per cent; DLF was the top gainer from this space, up 9.35 per cent to Rs. 107. Unitech, Phoenix Mills, Indiabulls Real Estate, HDIL, Oberoi Realty and Sobha Developers were also among the gainers, up 2.65-7.5 per cent each.
11:11 a.m: The market breadth is extremely positive as 1,842 stocks were advancing while 333 were declining.
10:43 a.m.: Banking stocks continue to witness buying interest. The Bank Nifty advances 4 per cent or 581 points to 14,994.
10:05 a.m.: Banking stocks are cheap but given the NPL problem, I would not recommend one to play ‘high risk high return game’: Jyotivardhan Jaipuria, founder & CEO of Veda Investment Managers.
10:01 a.m.: Need a phase of consolidation to call bottom in stock markets, says Jyotivardhan Jaipuria, founder & CEO of Veda Investment Managers.
9:55 a.m.: Buying in the banking shares came after the Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday said it would ease rules on what lenders can count towards their core capital requirements under upcoming Basel III rules, in moves intended to ease pressure on the cash-constrained sector.
Government had estimated last year that lenders would need to raise about $17 billion from markets over four years to meet total funding requirements of about $28 billion beyond projected profits.
9:44 a.m.: Asian shares rallied to two-month highs on Wednesday as overnight gains in oil prices and a swath of positive economic data from Australia to the United States calmed fears of a global economic slowdown.
Stock markets across the region were in the black, led by Japan and Hong Kong, with announcements from China this week of a cut in bank reserve requirements and structural reforms helping underpin sentiment.
9:41 a.m.: Strong buying interest was seen in PSU banking shares. The PSU bank index on the National Stock Exchange rallied as much as 9.5 per cent or 199 points. Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, Bank of India, Union Bank, Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab National Bank and Syndicate Bank were among the gainers, up 5.75-9 per cent each.
9:26 a.m.: The Sensex rallied as much as 431 points and the Nifty-50 moved above its crucial psychological level of 7,300 on the back of strong buying interest in rate sensitive stocks on hopes of a rate cut from the RBI governor Raghuram Rajan amid strong global cues.
At 9:25 a.m., the Sensex advanced 306 points to 24,085 and Nifty surged 95 points to 7,317.
Gains in the benchmark indices were led by banking shares. The banking sub index on the National Stock Exchange, Bank Nifty advanced over 3 per cent. Banking heavyweights such as State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank and Axis Bank rallied 4-9 per cent each.
From the Nifty-50 basket of shares, 46 stocks were advancing while 4 were declining.
The broader markets also witnessed buying interest. The BSE mid-cap index advanced 1.3 per cent and the small-cap index was up 1.6 per cent.
8:00 a.m.: The Sensex is likely to extend yesterday’s 777 point rally and Nifty may go beyond its crucial psychological level of 7,300 tracking positive trading of Nifty futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange amid strong global cues.
The Nifty futures traded on the Singapore Exchange was up 1.44 per cent or 104 points at 7,340.
Meanwhile, other Asian markets were also trading on a strong note. China’s Shanghai Composite advanced 1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 2.6 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei rallied 4 per cent.
Overnight, Wall Street enjoyed its strongest session in a month on Tuesday, led by financial and technology stocks after encouraging US factory and construction data suggested the world’s biggest economy was regaining momentum.
The S&P 500 closed 2.39 per cent higher, leaving the index down 3 per cent in 2016 after partly recovering in recent weeks from a steep selloff in January. A rally in Apple shares helped give the Nasdaq Composite its strongest day since August.
Back home, after being on a selling spree since quite some time the foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs. 1,760.98 crore and domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs. 317 crore on Tuesday.
