Nifty rebounds 50 pts on Fed dovishness; bank stocks rally

Markets staged a smart rebound today after three-straight sessions of losses as investors turned optimistic following Federal Reserve's dovish interest rates comments.
The buying frenzy lifted NSE-flagship index Nifty by a whopping 50 points to end at 8,673.25.
Covering up of short positions by speculators and some value-buying predominantly spearheaded the recovery.
The minutes of the recent Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) indicated that there is ongoing disagreement on the appropriate time to raise rates, prompting investors to push back expectations of an imminent US interest rate hike.
Market got off to a strong start tracking overnight developments and maintained its rallying momentum throughout the session while consolidating its gains despite modest profit-taking in late afternoon trade.

The 50-share Nifty resumed firmly higher at 8,648.85 and swung between a high of 8,690.75 and 8,645.05, before ending at 8,673.25, showing a smart rise of 49.20 points, or 0.57 per cent over its last close.

Banking shares were the flavor of the day with Nifty Private Bank index surging 1.80 per cent, followed by Nifty Bank (1.64 per cent) and PSU Bank (1.10 per cent).
Other gainers included Energy (1.28 per cent), Realty (1.27 per cent), Infra (0.81 per cent), Pharma (0.60 per cent) and Auto (0.33 per cent).
The smallcap and midcap indices were up 0.97 and 0.76 per cent, respectively.

However, FMCG moved down 0.36 per cent, followed by IT (0.23 per cent) and Metal (0.18 per cent).
Best performers on the index were HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Ultratech Cement, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Adani Ports, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Reliance, TCS, ONGC, SBI, Grasim, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, M&M and Tata Motors.
The losers were led by Infosys, followed by L&T, ITC, Coal India, HUL, Eicher, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Hindalco and Tata Power.
Turnover in cash segment climbed to Rs 19,449.52 crore from Rs 19,018.91 crore yesterday.
A total of 9,734.69 lakh shares changed hands in 78,48,776 trades. The market capitalisation of NSE stood at Rs 107,72,201 crore.