Sensex jumps 130 points; banking stocks rally amid fresh inflows by foreign funds and positive global cues

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices ended higher for the third straight session Tuesday on widespread buying in banking stocks towards the fag end amid fresh inflows by foreign funds and positive global cues. The BSE Sensex spurted 130.00 points to end at 35,980.93, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 30.35 points to 10,802.15. Both indices traded in the negative zone through most part of the session as investors booked profits in recent gainers amid weakness in the rupee due to rise in global crude prices. However, with the emergence of buying towards the close of the session, Sensex wiped off losses and hit a high of 36,037.35 before settling 0.36 percent higher. The index had rallied 336.45 points in the previous two straight sessions. The 50-share NSE Nifty settled 0.28 percent higher. Intra-day, it touched a low of 10,733.25 and a high of 10,818.45. [caption id=“attachment_4748931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] According to Hemang Jani, Head - Advisory, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, banking stocks remained in focus after the RBI governor Monday expressed satisfaction over the performance of the banking sector by saying bad loans have declined, particularly that of state-owned banks. “Also the sharp moderation in bond yields should significantly boost the treasury performance of the banking sector,” he pointed out. Market traded on a range-bound with a positive bias in which PSU banks led the gains on account of improving non-performing asset (NPA) resolution along with capital infusion and depressed valuation, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. Investors have some caution ahead of corporate earnings and a hope over ongoing US and China trade meeting, he added. Earlier in the session, investors logged gains ahead of Q3 earnings of bluechip companies such as TCS and Infosys later this week amid fresh weakness in the rupee which again breached the Rs 70-mark against a dollar, traders said. However, losses were capped on Central Statistics Office’s positive advanced estimates of national income for 2018-19. The domestic economy is expected to grow at 7.2 percent in 2018-19 against 6.7 percent in the previous fiscal mainly due to improvement in the performance of agriculture and manufacturing sectors, the CSO had said Monday. In the Sensex kitty, Sun Pharma was the top gainer, surging 3.98 percent; followed by private lender ICICI Bank 3.46 percent ahead of earnings. Shares of Tata Motors surged 2.34 percent largely on reports of strong JLR UK sales. Other gainers include SBI, Yes Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto and IndusInd Bank, rising up to 3.18 percent. While losers include Kotak Bank, NTPC, HDFC, HUL, Bajaj Finance and M&M, falling up to 1.41 percent. Shares of Gruh Finance and Bandhan Bank tumbled Tuesday, with the former plunging 16.39 percent following announcement of merger plans. Fresh spell of buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) also buoyed trading sentiments, traders said. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 736.18 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 141.97 crore, while on Monday, provisional data showed. Among Sectoral indices, bankex took the top position by climbing 1.31 per cent, followed by healthcare 0.98 percent, PSU 0.65 percent, metal 0.58 percent, auto 0.39 percent, Infrastructure 0.19 percent, FMCG 0.13 per cent and teck 0.02 percent. While, capital goods, power, consumer durables, IT and oil & gas indices ended lower up to 0.35 percent. The broader markets depicted a mixed trend with the small-cap index rising 0.17 percent while mid-cap index fell 0.16 percent. Globally, Asian shares rose as investors were optimistic about trade talks between Washington and Beijing amid dovish remarks from the US Federal Reserve. In the Asian region, Japan’s Nikkei rose by 0.82 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.10 percent. Singapore’s index rose 0.57 percent while the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.26 percent. Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.58 percent. European markets were trading higher in late morning deals with Paris CAC rising by 0.35 percent while Frankfurt’s DAX up 0.27 percent. London’s FTSE too rose 0.28 percent