Shares of financials, including banks, home finance companies and NBFCs, were on a roll today, with optimism over economic recovery and further cut in interest rates giving a positive spin to investor sentiments.
What has added further momentum to investor expectations is the forecast by the International Monetary Fund that the country would pip China in 2016-17 to become the fastest growing economy in the world.
NSE Bank Nifty continued its scorching pace, up by about 100 points. That seven of the 12 stocks in the Bank Nifty hit new 52 week highs gave an indication of the investor optimism that the economy would achieve higher growth in the coming quarters and interest rates would continue with their downward journey.
Two of the PSU bank stocks- Bank of Baroda and SBI joined the party in touching new yearly peaks. BoB, which will be traded at ex-stock split levels from tomorrow (the stock is going for a 5:1 split with face value reduced from ₹10 to ₹2) touched a new yearly high of ₹1,138.70 before shedding some of the gains to trade at ₹1,125, a gain of ₹38.20. SBI, which had recently gone for a 10:1 stock split reached a new 52 week high of ₹327.60 before easing marginally down to ₹326.45.
Five other Bank Nifty stocks to touch new 52 week highs were the private sector bank stocks-IndusInd, HDFC Bank, YES Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank. IndusInd Bank moved up to a new high of ₹859.50 before slipping to ₹849.80, a gain of ₹9.35, HDFC Bank continued with its strong run to reach a new high of ₹1,032.95 before easing to ₹1,026, up by ₹5.05 and YES Bank jumped to a high of ₹880 but shed some of the gains to trade at ₹863.45.
ICICI Bank, another stock trading post-split, reached a high of ₹370.95 before moving down to ₹366.80, a loss of 95 paise and Axis Bank was another stock that has gone ex-stock split to reach a new high of ₹556.80 but was down to ₹547.50, a loss of ₹3.90.
The CNX finance index too witnessed a strong upsurge, going up by about 60 points. HDFC continued to put up a strong show, reaching a new yearly high of ₹1297.40 before shedding some of the gains to trade at ₹1285.80. IDFC, which is transforming itself into a bank, touched a new 52 week high of ₹173.50 but edged down to ₹171.40.
REC and PFC have given up their gains and are down marginally.