Markets hold on to the gains, the S&P CNX Nifty was up 51 points, at 5465 and the benchmark Sensex advanced 169 points, at 18,156 supported by buying in banking and IT counters.
---------- Updated at 12:42
Markets continued to trade higher for second consecutive day on back of buying interest emerging in the banking counters. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 60 points, at 5473 and the benchmark Sensex advanced 194 points, at 18,183.
Banking shares were leading the gains, after Finance Minister yesterday pushed ahead with the a new legislation for banking sector. Derivatives data suggested build up in open interest in large cap banking stocks. Shshank Mehta Derivatives Strategist, Nirmal Bang said, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank open Interest was up 5% and 2% respectively." Among private sector mid-cap banks, Mehta was bullish on Yes Bank and Syndicate Bank.
BSE Bankex was the lead sectoral gainer, up 1.6%. ICICI Bank was up 3%, Kotak Mahindra Bank advanced 2.4% and Yes Bank zoomed 1.7%.
Markets are set to end the March series on a positive note. Monal Desai VP & Head–Institutional Equities (Derivatives), Prabhudas Lilladher said, Nifty would end the March series near the 5500 levels. Furthermore, Samir Gilani, Head of Equities at MAPE Securities, said, "going forward, if the situation in India improves on the political front as well as on the economic front, then one can expect the FII (Foreign Institutional Investors) flows to return back to India." According to SEBI data FIIs have put $302.6 million in Indian equities in March so far.
BSE IT shares were also leading the gains, the index was up 1.6%. Bellwether Infosys climbed 1.5%, HCL Technologies and Core Projects was up over 1% each.
From the broader markets, midcap and smallcap indices were up 0.8% and 0.6% each.
Market breadth was fairly positive, for 1618 stocks which advanced 1037 stocks declined.
