Markets soar as banking, finance stocks in demand
Equity benchmarks notched up robust gains on Thursday as investors piled into banking and finance stocks despite weak global cues and geopolitical volatility
Mumbai: Equity benchmarks notched up robust gains on Thursday as investors piled into banking and finance stocks despite weak global cues and geopolitical volatility.
After starting on a tepid note, the 30-share BSE Sensex gained momentum in late-afternoon trade to close at 34,208.05, up 700.13 points, or 2.09 per cent. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 210.50 points, or 2.13 per cent, to 10,091.65. HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and HDFC accounted for over half of the Sensex's gains.
In absolute terms, Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing 5.46 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI and PowerGrid. On the other hand, ONGC, HUL, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma and Maruti were among the laggards, shedding up to 0.71 per cent.
Traders said banking shares witnessed a relief rally after the Centre informed the Supreme Court that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to withdraw 96 per cent of the Rs 4 lakh crore demand for AGR related dues raised against non-telecom PSUs like GAIL.
"In spite of negative global cues, Indian indices ended the day positive with steady gains. With the Supreme Court AGR ruling providing a respite to the exposed banks, the relief was visible in the banking stocks especially those which had exposure to the telecom companies. The banking index contributed the most to the positivity and almost all components of the index ended the day positive," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
BSE bankex, finance, metal, power and energy indices rallied up to 3.81 per cent, while telecom and healthcare ended in the red. Broader BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices spurted up to 1.48 per cent. Global markets wobbled on concerns over a second wave of coronavirus cases. Bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul settled with losses, while Shanghai closed in the positive territory. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note in early trade.
