Market holds firm; bank stocks gain

Benchmark indices are trading firm in morning trade after an initial upmove. Banking and financial stocks saw buying demand while metal, auto and FMCG shares fell.

At 10:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 247.07 points or 0.44% at 55,797.15. The Nifty 50 index gained 40.4 points or 0.24% at 16,670.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.64% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.15%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,666 shares rose and 1,475 shares fell. A total of 144 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,263.90 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,686.85 crore in the Indian equity market on 11 March, provisional data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index added 314 points or 0.91% to 34,861.20, extending its winning run to fifth consecutive trading session. The banking index rallied 6% in five days.

ICICI Bank (up 1.28%), SBI (up 0.9%), Axis Bank (up 0.72%) and Bandhan Bank (up 0.57%) were top gainers in banking space.

HDFC Bank gained 1.72% to Rs 1,421 after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifted the restrictions on sourcing of new credit cards. On 11 March 2022, the RBI had lifted the restrictions on the business generating activities planned under the bank`s Digital 2.0 program. In December 2020, RBI directed HDFC Bank stop all launches of its upcoming digital business-generating activities and sourcing of new credit card customers after repeated outages at its data centre which impacted operations.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tech Mahindra rose 0.7%. The IT company on Saturday announced that it has approved the proposal to acquire 100% equity shares in Thirdware Solutions. Thirdware, headquartered in Mumbai, is a global player in Enterprise Applications focused in the areas of ERP, BIA, Cloud and business technologies. Tech Mahindra said that the acquisition will bolster company`s digital solutions and services in automotive consulting, design, development and implementation in areas like ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), EPM (Enterprise Performance Management), RPA (Robotic Process Automation), and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things).

Sobha declined 4.58% after announced that Jagdish Chandra Sharma tendered his resignation for the position of director, vice chairman, managing director and key managerial personnel of the company with effect from 1 April 2022.

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