Sensex snaps three-day losing run; HDFC twins shine

Equity benchmark index Sensex ended a three-session losing streak to close nearly 450 points higher on Tuesday, helped by intense buying in index majors HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank amid a mixed trend in the global markets.

Besides, a firm trend in financial, realty, teck and IT counters also supported the domestic equities, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 446.03 points or 0.71% to settle at 63,416.03 points. During the day, it advanced 497.54 points or 0.79% to 63,467.54 points.

NSE Nifty climbed 126.20 points or 0.68% to end at 18,817.40 points.

“Short covering ahead of Wednesday’s F&O expiry may have triggered a sharp rebound in key benchmark indices despite a lacklustre trend in Asian and European indices.

“Investors have once again bet big on India’s sound economic fundamentals by latching to banking and realty shares and shrugged off negative catalysts like hawkish Fed, mounting Chinese growth concerns, Russian crisis and erratic monsoon so far,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

State Bank of India was the best performer in the Sensex chart, rising 1.59 per cent, followed by HDFC, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, NTPC and Bajaj Finserv.

The merger of housing finance major HDFC with the country’s largest private lender HDFC Bank will be effective from July 1, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh said on Tuesday.

The stock of HDFC climbed 1.59% to settle at ₹2,762.50 apiece on the BSE. During the day, it jumped 2.26% to ₹2,781.

Shares of HDFC Bank advanced 1.38% to end at ₹1,658 per piece after gaining 2.23% to ₹1,672 during the day.

Maruti, ITC and Hindustan Unilever were the laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.61%, and the midcap index advanced 0.38%.

Among the indices, financial services jumped 1.35%, realty climbed 1.27%, bankex (1.20%), metal (0.97%), teck (0.66%), IT (0.61%) and healthcare (0.55%).

FMCG and oil & gas were the laggards.

“The domestic market rallied, primarily supported by banking and finance stocks, which received a boost from the merger updates from HDFC. Meanwhile, global trends were mixed as the Chinese market showed signs of recovery, driven by hopes of additional policy stimulus, whereas European markets traded with declines in response to hawkish commentary from the President of the ECB,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the green, while Seoul and Tokyo ended lower.

Equity markets in Europe were trading on a mixed note. The U.S. markets ended in the negative terrain on Monday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.12% to $73.35 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹409.43 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

In a lacklustre trading on Monday, the BSE benchmark dipped 9.37 points or 0.01 per cent to settle at 62,970 points, logging its third straight session of decline. The Nifty had edged up 25.70 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 18,691.20 points.