Nifty Bank gains 3.5%, hits 10-week high; Axis Bank soars 8%, ICICI Bank 5%

Bluechip financial counters such as Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India lifted the markets on Friday as analysts turn positive on the sector. That apart, August Futures and Options (F&O) series, which ended on August 27, saw strong participation from banking sector underlying optimism in the space.

According to global brokerage UBS, the economy is recovering gradually, as suggested by high frequency data, lowering the risks of bad loan formation. "The recent capital infusion (over US$10bn) in some banks/non-banking financial companies (NBFC) would be additional cushion. We cut our FY21/FY22 estimates for GNPL formation from 7%/5% to