Markets rally riding on banking stocks

Mumbai, October 9

Benchmark indices made an emphatic comeback on Wednesday after a six-session losing streak as investors piled into recently beaten down banking and financial stocks ahead of the earnings season.

The BSE Sensex surged 645.97 points or 1.72% to end at 38,177.95, while the broader NSE Nifty zoomed 186.90 points or 1.68% to 11,313.30. After a cautious start, the key indices gained momentum in afternoon trade, led by banking, financial and telecom counters.

Sentiment got a further boost after the Cabinet hiked the dearness allowance (DA) for central government employees, which is expected to prop up festive demand, analysts said.

On the Sensex chart, IndusInd Bank was the biggest gainer, spurting 5.45%, followed by Airtel, ICICI Bank, SBI, M&M, Kotak Bank, Tata Steel and HDFC Bank.

“Market recovered after many days of fall and rose comfortably above 11,300-level. Banks outperformed as sharp fall in bond yield is indicating further room for rate cuts which will improve liquidity and consumption story,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. — PTI