Sensex, Nifty Rise To Over 2-Month Highs, Yes Bank Surges 8%

Sensex and Nifty rose amid a volatile session today, ending at over two-month highs. The Sensex ended 212 points higher at 34,713 while Nifty settled at 10,617, up 47 points. Gains in banking, FMCG and IT stocks supported the upmove today. Shares of Yes Bank surged 8 per cent today, after the private lender came out with better-than-expected earnings. "Stock specific moves will continue in the earnings season," said Siddharth Sedani, vice president - head equity advisory at Anand Rathi.

Private lender Yes Bank posted a better-than-expected 29 per cent increase in fourth-quarter profit, helped by higher interest income. Net profit of Yes Bank rose to Rs 1,179 crore in the quarter ended March 31, from Rs 914 crore a year earlier. Analysts on average estimated profit at Rs 1,099 crore, according to Reuters. Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 1.28 per cent at end-March, compared with 1.72 per cent in the preceding quarter.

Other private lenders also posted strong gains. IndusInd Bank rose  2 per cent while Kotak Mahindra Bank gained nearly 1.5 per cent. Among the IT stocks, TCS gained 2 per cent while Infosys rose nearly 1.5 per cent.

Shares of software services exporter Wipro was among the biggest drags on the NSE index after its fourth-quarter profit missed estimates and guidance for the first quarter failed to please investors. Shares of Wipro fell 2 per cent.

FMCG heavyweights HUL and ITC rose 2 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively. 

Global markets were mostly higher today. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield set a fresh four-year high of 3.035 percent on Wednesday, driven by worries about the growing supply of government debt and inflationary pressures from rising oil prices. But robust corporate earnings helped quell concerns and Asian shares gained.