ICICI Bank Powers Nifty To New Record Close

Indian stocks gained with a key benchmark closing at a new record on Thursday boosted by the country’s largest private sector bank’s earnings.

ICICI Bank Ltd. jumped 9.2 percent, the most since September 2015, after most brokerages maintained their rating on the stock despite worsening asset quality indicators during the January-March period.

The stock also helped the Nifty Bank index register its best single-day performance since February of this year. Investor appetite towards financial stocks was stoked by a Cabinet approval for a new bad loan resolution plan.

Also Read: Brokerages In ‘Wait And Watch’ Mode On Bad Loan Resolution Policy

While the banking sector has managed to meet street expectations for the January-March quarter, rising bad loans remained a concern. HDFC Ltd. reported its first quarterly decline in net profit in eight years.

Both the S&P BSE Sensex at 30,126 and NSE Nifty at 9,359 continue to trade near record levels. The 50-share index has been consolidating in the 9,300 and 9,400 range for some time, said Hemen Kapadia of KR Choksey.

Also Read: Strong Rupee May Help Ease India Outbound Investment Rules