The benchmark BSE index edged up on Thursday, enough to lodge a sixth consecutive session of gains, as lenders rallied on a report that the central bank has trimmed the list of companies that needed bad loan provisioning.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 36.2 points or 0.14 per cent at 25,880.38. However, the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 2.7 points or 0.03 per cent at 7,912.05.
Among BSE sectoral indices, banking index gained the most by 1.95 per cent, followed by PSU 1.24 per cent, oil & gas 0.67 per cent and metal 0.38 per cent. On the other hand, IT index was down 1.53 per cent, realty 1.47 per cent, TECk 1.37 per cent and power 1.09 per cent.
Lenders rallied on a media report the central bank has trimmed the list of companies whose loans need to be provided for against the risk of default.
The move is likely to result in better-than-expected March-quarter results at banks, especially those with high exposure to heavily indebted companies, according to the media report.
Top five Sensex gainers were ICICI Bank (+6.26%), State Bank of India (+3.68%), Coal India (+2.89%), Axis Bank (+2.08%), and Tata Motors (+1.83%), while the major losers were Wipro (-7.01%), BHEL (-2.86%), ITC (-1.72%), ITC (-1.61%) and M&M (-1.59%).
Wipro shares plunged after company said its consolidated net profit dipped 1.6 per cent to Rs 2,235 crore for the quarter ended March 31.
Financial services firm Equitas Holdings surged 25 per cent above the IPO price of 110 rupees on debut. The company attracted demand for more than 17 times the number of shares on sale in its IPO of up to $327 million.
NSE index
NSE index is on the verge of turning positive for the year, after falling as much as 14.1 per cent in 2016 at one point in February, on the back of hopes the central bank would continue to ease interest rates in the wake of falling inflation and hopes for good monsoon rains.
But analysts also warned shares could see a slowdown in the pace of gains, with companies in the midst of reporting results and the country's parliament due to reconvene on April 25 for the second half of the budget session.
“Positive global factors and monsoon forecast have provided support to the market so far, but now we could see some consolidation before another up move," said Dipen Shah, senior vice-president at Kotak Securities.
Risk appetite also improved as oil prices rallied due to a smaller-than-expected increase in US crude inventories and abiding hopes that producers may eventually agree ways to ease a global glut, lifting Asian stocks.
Brokers' comment
Brokers said investors have been widening bets due to positive macroeconomic data and above-normal monsoon forecast.
Moreover, a firm trend in other Asian markets following a strong performance on Wall Street and rebound in oil prices, influenced the sentiment here.
Global markets
European stocks were little changed on Thursday, as German carmaker Volkswagen outperformed while Swedish mobile telecom equipment maker Ericsson slumped.
Markets were holding their ground before a European Central Bank meeting later in the day. The ECB is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at record lows.
Asian shares held near 5-1/2-month highs on Thursday as oil prices rallied over 4 per cent overnight thanks to a smaller than expected increase in US crude inventories and abiding hopes that producers may eventually agree ways to ease a global glut.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei gained 2.0 percent. Australian shares rose 0.9 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.5 per cent. Shanghai was little changed.
A report by SMC Global said: "Most of Asian markets advanced today, taking cues from overnight gains in US. Wall Street closed higher Wednesday, but off session highs, as a turnaround by oil futures and upbeat housing data provided support. Crude oil futures turned higher after the data from the US Energy Information Administration showed a fall in weekly domestic output for a sixth straight week. Existing home sales in the US saw a significant rebound in March after an uncharacteristically large decline in February, the National Association of Realtors revealed in a report. The report said existing home sales jumped 5.1 per cent to an annual rate of 5.33 million in March after tumbling 7.3 per cent to a revised 5.07 million in February. Economists had expected existing home sales to climb by about 3.7 per cent to a rate of 5.27 million from the 5.08 million originally reported for the previous month."