Bank stocks roar but IT stocks skip the market rally

Powered by a robust show by banking and auto stocks, the CNX Nifty was up by about 80 points about an hour before the market is to close for the day today.

Surprisingly, the IT frontliners, with the exception of TCS, appear to have given a miss to the rally today.

Bank stocks

Some of the biggest gainers in the Nifty were bank stocks led by

SBI which jumped by Rs 54 to Rs 2,654.20, Axis Bank which gained Rs 35.80 to trade at Rs 1,918.75 and Bank of Baroda which surged by Rs 26.90 to Rs 862. Other bank stocks to witness significant price appreciation were PNB that gained Rs 18.35 to trade at Rs 972.50, ICICI Bank that was up by Rs 24.10 to Rs 1,438.30 and housing major HDFC Ltd which gained Rs 22.25 to trade at Rs 993.25.

Oil & gas stocks

Oil and Gas stocks were also ruling firm but the impact was not uniform. In terms of percentage, GAIL was the biggest gainer, up by 4.46 per cent or Rs 19.60 to Rs 458.75. BPCL was up by Rs 14.35 to Rs 571 and Reliance gained Rs 20.85 to trade at Rs 1058.80. However, ONGC and Cairn were in the red. ONGC was down by Rs 2.65 to Rs 434.95 and Cairn shed Rs 2.45 to trade at Rs 372.25.

Auto stocks

Auto stocks continued to rule firm in the wake of Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Seetharaman’s comments that the Government was seized of the issue of extension of sops to the automobile industry. Tata Motors gained Rs 8.80 to trade at Rs 444.40, Bajaj Auto jumped by Rs 27.90 to Rs 2,219, Maruti was up by Rs 27.70 at Rs 2,408 and Hero MotoCorp gained Rs 28.50 to trade at Rs 2,611.95.

But what came as a surprise was that the frontline IT stocks appear to have given a miss to the rally with the exception of TCS that gained Rs 25.55 to trade at Rs 2,294.40. Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Infy and HCL Tech were all down, albeit marginally.