Sensex soars by over 300 points; SBI rallies by nearly 8 per cent

Elevated by banking stocks, Sensex closed at 34,287.24, higher by 306.54 points or 0.90 per cent than its previous level while Nifty gained by 1.13 per cent or 113.05 points to settle at the level of 10,142.15. During a volatile session, investors were observed adopting a bullish nature during the second half of today's trading session, as banking and financial stocks gained while FMCG stocks were witnessed losing.

State Bank of India announced a net profit of Rs 3,580.81 crore for Q4FY20 which is a considerable jump compared to a net profit of Rs 838.40 crore recorded in Q4FY19. Additionally, its gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) as a percentage of total advances were at 6.15 per cent for Q4FY20, compared to 6.94 per cent for Q4FY19 and 7.53 per cent for Q4FY20. As a result, SBI's stock soared by 7.90 per cent on BSE.

Despite the extensive Coronavirus cases, Asian indices were in a positive bias, placing emphasis on the easing of lockdown restrictions and gradual recoveries of economies. Hang Seng, Nikkei, Shanghai and KOSPI rallied by 1.66 per cent, 0.74 per cent, 0.40 per cent and 1.43 per cent respectively. The Indian rupee reportedly wiped out early gains and ended flat at 75.58 per dollar.

Sensex winners consisted of Tata Steel rallying by 6 per cent, Bajaj Finance gaining by 3.44 per cent, HDFC Bank which went up by 3.14 per cent, NTPC soaring by 3 per cent, Axis Bank gaining by 2.81 per cent, ICICI Bank rising by 2.70 per cent, L&T which gained by 2.61 per cent, ONGC which rose by 2.41 per cent, etc.

Sensex laggards included IT and FMCG stocks such as TCS declining by 2.19 per cent, HUL which fell by 1.56 per cent, Nestle dropping by 0.57 per cent, Infosys down by 0.57 per cent, HCL Technologies decreasing by 0.52 per cent, Tech Mahindra which fell by 0.43 per cent, etc.

Amidst BSE sectoral indices, Telecom was the biggest gainer, up by 3.55 per cent while IT index was the biggest loser, down by 0.75 per cent.