Sensex zooms 975 points, Nifty ends above 15K; banking stocks cheer SBI earnings show

Sensex zoomed over 1,000 points today buoyed by a rally in banking stocks after SBI reported its highest ever quarterly profit. Nifty too rallied 284 points with banking stocks gaining the most on the 50-stock index.

Later, Sensex closed 975 points higher at 50,540 and Nifty ended 269 points higher at 15,175. On Sensex, top gainers were HDFC Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank , Axis Bank, HDFC, IndusInd  Bank and Kotak Bank rising up to 4.48%.

SBI  share ended 4.30% higher  at Rs 401.70 on BSE after the lender reported its Q4 earnings. SBI reported a 80 per cent surge in standalone net profit at Rs 6, 450.75 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2021, aided by decline in bad loans.

SBI share rises 4% post strong Q4 earnings

After the country's largest lender reported its Q4 earnings, positive sentiment was witnessed in banking sector stocks. BSE bankex which was hovering around 38,700 level before the SBI earnings rose 675 points to an intra day high of 39,374. Later, the index closed 1,413 points higher at 39,285. Bank Nifty too gained 1,272 points to 34,606.

Auto and IT sector stocks also led the gains with their BSE indices rising 213 and 219 points, respectively.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "Domestic equities witnessed strong rebound after being lacklustre for two days following the weak global market. The easing covid concerns, appreciation in INR and recent positive global data helped the market. The volatility index is reducing gauging outperformance to continue. All sectors were in positive territory with financial stocks leading the rally supported by strong Q4 results of largest PSB SBI and RBI's Central Board meeting."

Of 30 Sensex stocks, 28 ended in the green. On Nifty, 45 stocks ended in green.

BSE mid cap and small cap indices rose 173.90 and 149.92 points, respectively.

Market cap of BSE-listed firms hit all-time high of Rs 218.05 lakh crore. Market breadth was positive with 1952 stocks ending higher against 1167 shares closing lower on BSE.

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities said, "Banks led the charge today buoyed by SBI earnings as bulls went on a rampage with stimulus hopes and transfer of surplus by the Central Bank to the GOI kept the street bullish. The broader market too witnessed good activity as the curve of daily corona cases displayed a declining trend."

Global markets

World shares were trading mixed on Friday after a rebound on Wall Street broke a three-day losing streak. Benchmarks rose in Paris, Tokyo and Sydney but fell in London and Shanghai.

Germany's DAX edged 0.1% higher to 15,383.44 and the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.3% to 6,360.99. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.5% to 6,982.65. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow industrials were up 0.1%.

Still, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.8% to 28,317.83. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.2% to 7,030.30.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was flat at 28,458.44, while the Kospi in Seoul declined 0.2% to 3,156.42. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.6% to 3,486.56.  On Thursday, S&P 500 gained 1.1% to 4,159.12. Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6% to 34,084.15.