Sensex Ends Nearly 1,000 Points Higher, Clocks Best Day Of May Led By Banks

S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes staged their biggest single-day gain of May powered by a rally in banking and financial heavyweights like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. The Sensex rallied as much as 1,051 points and Nifty 50 index surpassed its important psychological level of 9,300. Earlier in the day, Sensex and Nifty flipped-flopped between gains and losses however strong buying interest in banking shares on account of short-covering a day ahead of futures and options expiry led to strong gains during the session analysts said.

The Sensex ended 3.25 per cent or 995.92 points higher at 31,605.22 and the Nifty 50 index rallied 3.17 per cent or 285.90 points to close at 9,314.95.

Surge in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank collectively contributed over 600 points towards gain in the Sensex.

Nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Bank and Nifty Private Bank indexes over 7 per cent rally. Nifty Financial Services, IT, PSU Bank and Metal sector gauges also rose between 2.5-5.9 per cent higher.

On the other hand, Nifty Pharma index was top loser, down 0.2 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares underperformed their larger peers as the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indexes rose 0.6 per cent each.

Axis Bank was top Nifty gainer, the stock surged 14 per cent to close at Rs 390 after a report said private equity group Carlyle was in discussions with the lender for a fund infusion.

ICICI Bank, Wipro, Grasim Industries, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, UPL, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, BPCL and JSW Steel also rose between 5-9 per cent.

On the flipside, Sun Pharma, UltraTech Cement, Zee, Titan, Asian Paints, Shree Cements and Maruti Suzuki were among the notable losers.