Sensex gains 100 points in afternoon trade; Bank and realty stocks rally

Broader gains were capped as investors awaited results from major cos like Airtel and Hero MotoCorp

Benchmark indices held on to their gains in the afternoon trade, after Sensex reclaimed its 30,000-mark led by banks as lenders extended gains after the government gave more powers to the RBI to tackle bad loans in the sector.
 
Sentiment was also boosted by a rise in Asian stocks on investor relief after centrist Emmanuel Macron comfortably won the French presidential election. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.3%, snapping a three-day losing streak.
 
At 2:00 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 29,968, up 109 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,322, up 36 points.

 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap outperformed to gain 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively. 
 
Broader gains were capped as investors awaited corporate results from major firms like Bharti Airtel and Hero MotoCorp later in the week.
 
The market breadth remained health as 1,530 shares advanced against a fall of 781 shares, while 129 shares were unchanged.
 
Cement stocks held on to their gains, with ACC and Ambuja Cements rising 6% and 8% respectively after the Swiss cement giant Lafarge Holcim set the ball rolling for the merger of both the companies. Both ACC and Ambuja had their board meetings on Friday, and they concluded with a decision to initiate the process for exploring the possibility of a merger.

 
ICICI Bank, ONGC, M&M and Tata Motors gained the most on BSE Sensex while Adani Ports, ITC, L&T and Tata Steel were the biggest laggards.
 
BSE Bankex index gained nearly 1% as banks continued to gain after government tweaked its laws last week to help tackle a record $150 billion in bad loans. ICICI Bank gained the most, over 2% followed by Federal Bank, YES Bank, Bank of Baroda and Axis Bank.
 
ICICI Bank (up 2%) gained for the third session in a row and was the top Sensex gainer. The private sector lender had reported a nearly three-fold jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 2,025 crore in the March 2017 quarter.

 
BSE Realty index advanced over 1.5%, snapping 2-consecurive session loss led by India Bulls Realestate, HDIL, DLF and Omaxe.