Banking stocks lead recovery

Markets have recovered from the intra-day low levels in the late noon deals on the back of positive European cues and renewed buying interest visible in the banking stocks. The Sensex is up 38 points at 17,282 and the Nifty has jumped 14 points to 5,257 levels.

The European markets have opened higher. The CAC index is up 16 points at 3,233 levels, DAX has jumped 36 points to 6,643. While FTSE is trading marginally lower at 5,591 levels.

Back home, banking stocks are witnessing renewed buying interest on hopes that Reserve Bank of India might cut the key rates by 25 bps in the upcoming monetary policy review. The BSE Bankex is the top sectoral gainer up 111 points to 11,877 levels.

Healthcare, IT, FMCG, realty, PSU, power and auto indices are also trading higher. While, Oil & Gas, metal, capital goods and consumer durable stocks continue to trade marginally lower.

Kotak Mahindra Bank is the top gainer from this space, up 3% to Rs 561. IDBI Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and Bank of Baroda are also trading higher by 0.5-1.5% each.

Among the Sensex stocks, NTPC is the top gainer. It is followed by Infosys, Sun Pharma, HUL, Tata Power, Wipro, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. On the other hand, Jindal Steel, Reliance Industries, Sterlite Industries, Bharti Airtel, BHEL and TCS are among the losers.