Banks Power Sensex, Nifty To Record As Earnings Pick Up Steam

Indian equity benchmarks rose to fresh record highs for second day in a row led by rally in heavyweight private sector lenders which rose after reports surfaced which suggested that the government is mulling to raise foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in private sector banks to 100 percent from 74 percent.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.51 percent or 178 points to fresh record close of 35,260 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced 0.26 percent or 28 points to fresh lifetime high close of 10,817.

In the intraday deals, the Sensex rose over 1 percent to 35,507 and Nifty surged as much as 0.9 percent to 10,887. However, due to selling pressure in metals and telecom shares, the benchmarks came off highs but managed to close at new record highs.

The broader markets faced selling pressure as the S&P BSE MidCap Index fell 1.7 percent and the S&P BSE SmallCap Index plunged 2 percent.

Fifteen out of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended lower led by the S&P BSE Realty Index's 4 percent drop. On the other hand, the S&P BSE FMCG Index was the top sectoral gainer, up 0.7 percent.

Shares of the India's sixth largest private sector lender were trading 0.77 percent lower at Rs 339.75 after it reported December quarter earnings.

Key earnings highlights:

• Standalone net profit at Rs 1,076.8 crore versus Bloomberg estimate of Rs 1,062 crore
• Standalone net profit up 22 percent At Rs 1,076.8 crore versus Rs 882.6 crore (YoY)
• Gross NPA at 1.72 percent versus 1.82 percent (QoQ)
• Net NPA at 0.93 percent versus 1.04 percent (QoQ)
• Standalone net interest income (NII) at Rs 1,888.8 crore versus Bloomberg estimate of Rs 1,935 crore
• Standalone NII up 26.8 percent at Rs 1,888.8 crore versus Rs 1,489.3 crore (YoY)
• Gross NPA at Rs 2,974.3 crore versus Rs 2,720 (QoQ)
• Net NPA at Rs 1,595 crore versus Rs 1,543 (QoQ)
• Standalone provision at Rs 421.3 crore versus Rs 447 crore (QoQ); Rs 115 crore (YoY)

Shares of the Udaipur-based zinc miner fell as much as 6.16 percent, the most in nearly 10 months, to Rs 303.25.

Key earnings highlights:

• Net profit down 3.9 percent at Rs 2,230 crore versus Rs 2,320 crore (YoY)
• Revenue up 18.7 percent at Rs 5,922 crore versus Rs 4,987 crore (YoY)
• EBITDA up 16.4 percent at Rs 3,244 crore versus Rs 2,788 crore (YoY)
• Margin at 54.8 percent versus 55.9 percent (YoY)

Shares of the Gujarat-based coal mining and cargo handling company fell as much as 6.36 percent to Rs 191.55 after it reported December quarter earnings.

Key earnings highlights:

• Net profit up 3.3 percent at Rs 351 crore versus Rs 339.9 crore (YoY)
• Revenue up 15.5 percent at Rs 9,938.4 crore versus Rs 8,605.8 crore (YoY)
• EBITDA up 60.6 percent at Rs 999.7 crore versus Rs 622.3 crore (YoY)
• Margin at 10.1 percent versus 7.2 percent (YoY)

Shares of real estate companies were trading lower on the BSE. Gauge of real estate shares- S&P BSE Realty Index declined 3.4 percent led by losses in Unitech, DLF and Godrej Properties.