The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes extended gains in noon deals, led by buying interest in financial heavyweights HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. The benchmarks had a gap-up opening on the back of strong global cues and build on the gains thereafter. Meanwhile, analysts say the upmove is also happening on the back of a short-covering rally as the futures and option contracts for May will expire today. The Sensex rose as much as 596 points to reclaim 32,000 while the Nifty hit an intraday high of 9,485.55.
As of 12:48 pm, the Sensex was up 420 points or 1.33 per cent at 32,024.88 and the Nifty was at 9,446, up 1.41 per cent or 131 points.
Buying in HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank contributed over 300 points towards gain in the Sensex.
Eight of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange traded higher, led by the Nifty Private Bank index's 2.5 per cent gain. Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, Media and Metal indexes were also up 2-3 per cent.
On the other hand, Nifty IT index was top loser, down 0.35 per cent.
Eicher Motors was the top Nifty gainer; the stock rose 9 per cent to Rs 16,318. Zee Entertainment, Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Britannia and HDFC were also among the gainers.
On the flip side, BPCL, ITC, Wipro, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Dr Reddy's Labs, Cipla, State Bank of India and Hindustan Unilever were among the losers.
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