Sensex Rises Over 300 points, PSU Banks Lead

The BSE Sensex and Nifty gained nearly 1.5 per cent each on gains in PSU banking stocks and bluechips like L&T. Strong Asian markets also aided sentiment.

Overseas investors bought Indian shares worth Rs 2,977 crore ($503.8 million) on Friday, which includes about $364 million (nearly Rs 2,150 crore) from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increasing its stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank, provisional exchange data shows. The net purchases mark their first after selling in five out of six sessions.

CNX PSU Bank index rose over 4 per cent after reports said that the government is working on a holding company mechanism for recapitalizing banks. SBI, PNB and Bank of Baroda rose over 3 per cent each.

Market analyst Sanjeev Bhasin says Nifty has support at 7250-7300 and the RBI could surprise tomorrow with a 25 bps repo rate cut. Mr Bhasin sees Nifty hitting 7400 this week.

Larsen & Toubro gained 6.3 per cent after the engineering company's fourth-quarter profit beat analyst forecasts.

NMDC gains 4 per cent after the miner said on Friday its January-March profit rose by 34 per cent to Rs 1,962 crore.

HDFC Bank gained 2.4 per cent, while Hindustan Unilever fell 1.6 per cent as changes by MSCI to its global indices became effective after the close of markets on Friday.

At 12:34 p.m., the Sensex was up 340 points to 24,562 while Nifty rose 100 points to 7,330.65. (With Agency Inputs)