Benchmarks trade with strong gains; bank stocks outperform

The domestic equity barometers traded with strong gains on the Muharat Trading Day. At 18:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 646.56 points or 1.09% to 59,953.71. The Nifty 50 index added 191.50 points or 1.09% to 17,767.80.

In broader market, The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.75% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.13%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2369 shares rose and 498 shares fell. A total of 99 shares were unchanged.

The domestic market is open today for a special one-hour Muhurat trading session on the occasion of Diwali. The session also marks the beginning of Samvat 2079 -- the Hindu calendar year that starts on Diwali.

The exchanges will remain closed on Wednesday, (26 October 2022), on the occasion of Diwali Balipratipada.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index rose 1.21% to 41,277.60. AU Small Finance Bank (up 3.39%), IDFC First Bank (up 2.97%), Federal Bank Ltd (up 1.85%) and Axis Bank (up 1.73%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were IndusInd Bank (up 1.55%), Punjab National Bank (up 1.47%), Bandhan Bank (up 1.16%), State Bank of India (up 1.1%) and HDFC Bank (up 1.09%).

Stocks in Spotlight:

ICICI Bank rose 1.97%. The private lender`s standalone net profit surged 37.14% to Rs 7,557.84 crore on 19.43% rise in total income to Rs 31,087.91 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.

Kotak Mahindra Bank shed 0.09%. The private lender reported a 27% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 2,580.68 crore on a 19.48% increase in total income to Rs 10,047 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.

Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced 0.53%. On a consolidated basis, the diversified conglomerate`s net profit fell 0.2% to Rs 13,656 crore on 37.3% increase in net revenue to Rs 230055 crore in Q2 September 2022 over Q2 September 2021. For the quarter, RIL achieved gross revenue of Rs 253,497 crore in Q2 FY23 compared with Rs 191,532 crore in Q2 FY22. The increase of 32.4% in gross revenue was driven by higher realization in O2C business with sharp increase in energy prices. Revenue growth also reflects continued growth momentum across consumer businesses.

Meanwhile, the RIL board, at its meeting held on Friday, 21 October 2022, approved to demerge the company`s financial services undertaking into Reliance Strategic Investments (RSIL). The financial services undertaking will be renamed Jio Financial Services Limited (JFSL). Shareholders will get one equity share of Jio Financial Services (JFS) for each RIL share held.

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