Markets extend rally; Nifty vaults 87 pts, banks in limelight

Equities continued their northward journey today, boosted by key measures to stabilise the rupee and revive economic growth as the benchmark CNX Nifty jumped by 87 points on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Trading sentiment has improved vastly after the recent period of macroeconomic uncertainty. A slew of financial sector reforms to attract capital flows into the country to provide support to the rupee cheered investors.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned buyers after a recent streak of selling, lifting the sentiments. They bought shares worth Rs 1,101.41 crore yesterday, as per provisional stock exchange data.
Banking stocks led the rally, buoyed by hike in their overseas borrowing limits amid hopes Government would soon unveil more measures to strengthen the key sector.

Energy, healthcare, FMCG and infra stocks, too, attracted good buying interest. Realty, auto and technology counters, however, witnessed some profit-taking.
Overcoming the initial choppiness after the overnight stellar rally, the market staged a strong comeback in late morning trade. It maintained the surge throughout the session and concluded with healthy gains.

Elsewhere in Asia, most markets ended higher amid caution ahead of the release of much-awaited US non-farm payrolls data. Japan's Nikkei bucked the trend and plunged sharply on strengthening yen.
The 50-share Nifty swung between a high of 5,688.60 and a low of 5,566.15 before ending at 5,680.40, posting a gain of 87.45 points, or 1.56 per cent, over its last close.

ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, ONGC, Asian Paints, Reliance Infra, Axis Bank, BPCL, IndusInd Bank and Jindal steel were among the prominent gainers from the Nifty bunch.
Top losers included Bank of Baroda, Coal India, Tata Power, Sesa Goa, Lupin, Maruti, HUL, M&M, HeroMoto and Cairn.
Turnover in the cash segment dropped to Rs 13,444.54 crore from 14,291.42 crore yesterday. A total of 7,068.12 lakh shares changed hands in 69,66,645 trades. The market capitalisation stood at Rs 60,42,580 crore.