Sensex zooms 300 points; rate-sensitive shares lead

Bank shares were among the top gainers led by SBI and Axis Bank

 

Benchmark shares indices extended gains in late morning trade led by rate sensitives with banks leading the gains on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India may ease key policy rates at its meeting early next month.

At 11:30 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 320 points at 28,733 and the Nifty50 gained 93 points at 8,836. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 1.1%-1.3% each. Market breadth was positive with 1589 gainers and 504 losers on the BSE.

In the banking pack, SBI and Axis Bank were up over 2% each followed by ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.

In the auto pack, two-wheeler majors Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp were up over 3% each while Tata Motors, M&M and Maruti Suzuki were up over 1.5% each.

Among other shares, United Breweries surged nearly 8% to Rs 885 on the BSE after nearly 1% of the total equity of the company changed hands via a block deal today.
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(Updated at 9:40am)
Markets opened higher on Friday, amid firm cues from Asia and overnight gains on Wall Street, after weak US retail sales data dimmed the prospects of a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve at its meeting later this month.

At 9:40am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 290 points at 28,703 and the Nifty50 gained 83 points at 8,826.

"We had mentioned about a probable bounce considering the extreme oversold position of ‘RSI-Smoothened’ on hourly chart. Now, we may see this bounce getting extended towards 8770 – 8790 in the today's session," Angel Broking said in a technical note.

"But, we reiterate that traders shouldn’t participate aggressively in it. We expect any attempt of a bounce back towards mentioned levels to get sold into. On the downside, the immediate support zone is seen at 8688 – 8642 levels," it adds.

Foreign institutional investors turned buyers with net purchases of Rs 345 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Rate sensitive emerged as the top gains led by banks. SBI rose over 2% followed by private banking majors ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Aixs Bank.

In the auto pack, two-wheeler majors Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp were the top gainers up over 2.5% each followed by Tata Motors, M&M and Maruti Suzuki.

MARKETS LIVE: Click here for key gainers and losers

Among others, Den Networks has rallied 10% to Rs 80 on the BSE in early morning trade the company said its board will meet on Tuesday, September 20 to consider a preferential issue to leading global financial investors.


Global Markets

Asian markets edged higher on Friday even though some regions such as Hong Kong and China remained closed on account of autumn holidays. Among the major indices in the region, Japan's benchmark Nikkei was up 0.4% while Straits Times was up 0.7%.

US stocks edged higher on Thursday after weak retail sales could prompt the US Federal Reserve to delay hike in interest rates. The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 1% at 18,212, the S&P 500 gained 1% at 2,147 and the Nasdaq settled 1.5% higher at 5,250.