By Siddhant Mishra
The Bank Nifty closed at a record high of 43,596.85, up 498.15 points, or 1.16%, on Thursday, on a day the Nifty50 ended its four-session losing run and rose 48.85 points, or 0.26%, to 18,609.35. The Sensex climbed 160 points, or 0.26%, to 62,570.68, also spurred by the banking stocks.
PSU banks led the way in the Bank Nifty universe, with Bank of Baroda zooming 6.18% and Punjab National Bank jumping 4.42%. Federal Bank rose 2.91%. Kotak Bank was the only outlier, losing 0.67%, with all other banking stocks ending in the green.
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“Domestic equities cheered the Gujarat election outcome and closed near the day’s high. The Nifty snapped its four-day losing streak, while the broader market participated with gains of 0.3-0.6%. Except for IT, pharma and realty, all other sectors gained, with PSU banks showing huge momentum. The sentiment further got support with the fall in oil price to nearly one-year low at below $80/bbl, strong economic data and favourable government policies,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head (retail research), Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Pharma stocks were the laggards, with Sun Pharma (down 3.57%) being the biggest loser among the Sensex pack. Dr. Reddy’s fell 0.16%. On the broader index, Sun Pharma shed 3.76% while Divi’s Lab and DRL closed in the red as well.
DIIs were net buyers to the tune of ₹772.29 crore, while FIIs turned net sellers of up to ₹1,131.67 crore.
“With the RBI’s credit policy overhang now behind them, investors bought selectively in banking, metal and automobile stocks, although the undertone remained cautious ahead of next week’s US Federal Reserve meeting on interest rate. Central banks have, in fact, given more hints that interest rate hike would continue next year, which investors fear could lead to a likely recession in Western countries and the US,” said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research (retail), Kotak Securities.
Among global indices, the Hang Seng jumped 3.38% and the Straits Times index was up 0.33%. However, the Jakarta Composite index fell 0.21%, the Shanghai Composite edged down 0.07%, the Nikkei shed 0.4%, and the KOSPI fell 0.49%.
