Nifty hits lifetime high on rally in banking stocks

The stock market got back to record-breaking mood today on the back of a spectacular rally in financial stocks, triggered by a mega merger in banking space and on hopes of big-ticket reforms in coming weeks as the NSE Nifty zoomed to hit a lifetime high.
The 50-share index soared by a hefty 75.45 points, or 0.90 per cent, to end at 8,477.35, a fresh historic peak, after hitting a high of 8,489.80 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Strong buying, predominantly in the banking space, after Kotak Mahindra Bank announced a jumbo merger deal with ING Vysya Bank, revved up the market.

Heightened speculation that more mergers and acquisitions might take place in the banking sector in coming days also fuelled the rally.
Hopes of big-bang reforms in Winter Session of Parliament, beginning next week, also spurred sentiments.
FMCG, energy, auto and infra stocks saw furious buying activity. Ignoring the positive trend, technology and healthcare counters dropped on heavy profit-taking.

After a soft opening, the market quickly regained its strong momentum and stayed in the green throughout the day before concluding the week on a high note.
Other major Asian markets also finished higher, rebounding from recent sharp fall as sentiment turned positive on record gain by US stocks.

Banking majors topped the gainers' list with ICICI Bank leading the pack, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, PNB and Yes Bank. Small public and private sector lenders also rallied sharply.
Other big movers were ITC, Reliance, HDFC, L&T, Tata Motors, TCS, M&M, Hindalco, BHEL, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, Hero, and Sesa Sterlite.
Major losers included Infosys, Sun Pharma, HUL, ONGC, Tech Mahindra and Tata Steel.
Turnover in the cash segment jumped to Rs 17,243.50 crore from Rs 15,533.13 crore yesterday. A total of 8,255.77 lakh shares changed hands in 71,21,405 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 96,61,687 crore.