Bank counters spur Sensex

The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex scaled 215 points (1.53 per cent) to 14,295 points to record its biggest gain in two months.

The surge in the index came on the back of investors buying banking stocks, which coincided with the opening of a mega public offering of ICICI Bank, the country's second biggest lender.

Analysts see the market remaining rangebound for the next few weeks even as they are bullish on the banking sector. They expect that investors will put in more money into the banking stocks, in the wake of ICICI Bank's Rs 10,062 crore issue, anticipating higher returns over a short to medium term.

The 30-share Sensex opened in the green at 14,088.58 points against the Monday's close of 14,080.14 points, reached an intra-day high of 14,315.18 points and closed at 14,295.50 points. The gain of 215.36 points has been the biggest since May 16. The broad-based S&P CNX Nifty was up 67.20 points (1.6 per cent) at 4,214.30 points.

"Announcement of robust advance tax figures was a major trigger. The banking sector has performed outstandingly since quite some time. Investors are also focusing on oil and gas stocks as their valuations look good, following stable crude oil prices," Manish Sonthalia, equity head, Motilal Oswal, said.

State Bank of India topped the Sensex gainers' chart. The scrip got costlier by Rs 54 (4.10 per cent) to Rs 1,372.40. Larsen and Toubro followed with a gain of 3.56 per cent to Rs 1,995.70, Tata Steel rose to Rs 698.85 (up 3.38 per cent), Reliance Industries to Rs 944.40 (up 2.89 per cent) and ICICI Bank wet up by 2.89 per cent to Rs 944.40.

The BSE Bankex rose 202.36 points (2.71 per cent). All banking stocks, except Andhra Bank, ended in the green. Bank of India scaled 6.66 per cent to Rs 204. Canara Bank (up 4.85 per cent), Kotak Bank (up 4.10 per cent) and Union Bank (up 3.87 per cent) were the other prominent gainers.

IT stocks have been losing since the last few days as appreciation of the rupee will take a toll on their overseas revenues. Analysts view that the currency may continue to appreciate for some more time, following the big IPOs.

Satyam was the biggest loser and as it shed 1.80 per cent to Rs 468.45. Infosys lost 1.61 per cent to Rs 1,956.85 and TCS went down 0.51 per cent to Rs 1,160.60, while Wipro dropped 0.29 per cent to Rs 521.25. Cipla went down 0.41 per cent to Rs 207, while Ranbaxy lost 0.15 per cent to Rs 358.70.

Shailendra Jindal, CEO, Mehta Equities, said: "The market will remain rangebound for some weeks. We see resistance at the 14,400 level and maintain a support level of 14,000 points for the Sensex. Banking, energy and infrastructure stocks will be in demand, while cement may bring a surprise."