Sensex rallies by 718 points; banking shares hog limelight

MUMBAI: Market benchmark Sensex Monday rallied over 718 points to end above the 34,000-level buoyed by heavy buying mainly in financials like ICICI Bank and SBI coupled with revived optimism relating to RBI’S move to ease liquidity crunch.

The broader 50-share Nifty too rose over 220 points to close above 10,250.

Among the Sensex constituents, ICICI Bank was the biggest gainer with 11 per cent jump, followed by State Bank of India, which rose 8.04 per cent.

The index heavyweight ICICI Bank contributed over 200 points to the Sensex gains.

The country’s top private sector lender ICICI Bank swung into profit in the second quarter of this ongoing fiscal. The bank had reported a net loss of Rs 119.55 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

On year-on-year basis, ICICI Bank, however, reported a 42 per cent drop in its consolidated net profit to Rs 1,204.62 crore in the September 2018 quarter.

Other top Sensex gainers were Adani Ports, L&T, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and TCS, rising up to 7.33 per cent.

Market sentiments were further revived by the Reserve Bank’s decision to pump in Rs 40,000 crore into the system in November through purchase of government securities, with an aim to tackle liquidity crunch.

“Markets bounced out of extremely poor sentiment and oversold conditions. A good sign short term as we may have started a shortcovering rally in equities,” said Rohit Srivastava, Fund Manager - PMS, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

“The rise was broad-based which is a good sign and weak sectors like PSU banks were strong performers. Given the double bottom in the bank nifty, it appears the trend may continue in the near term,” he added.