Sensex, Nifty extend gains led by ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a gap up opening on Monday led by gains in ICICI Bank after it reported better than anticipated September quarter earnings on Saturday. The Sensex rose as much as 462 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 24,292.90 amid stable cues from Asian markets.

As of 9:21 am, the Sensex was up 282 points at 79,685 and Nifty 50 index advanced 69 points to 24,249.

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher with Japan's Nikkei rising 1.61 per cent as the yen sank to a three-month low after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition lost its parliamentary majority in a drubbing in Sunday's election, raising uncertainty over the path for policy and the economy.

China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.2 per cent, SZSE Component index advanced 0.3 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.85 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.23 per cent.

Back home, buying was visible across the board as all the major sector gauges barring the measures of FMCG and real estate shares were trading higher led by the Nifty PSU Bank index's 2 per cent gain. Nifty Bank, Financial Services, Media, Metal, Private Bank and Healthcare indices also rose between 0.5-1 per cent.

Broader markets were also witnessing buying interest as Nifty Midcap and Smallcap 100 indices rose 0.7 per cent each.

Among the individual shares, InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of country's largest airline IndiGo, fell as much as 10 per cent to Rs 3,928 after it reported first quarterly loss in two years, primarily driven by soaring fuel expenses and increasing aircraft rental costs. The airline disclosed a loss of Rs 989 crore for the three months ending September 30, a stark contrast to a profit of Rs 188 crore during the same period last year.

Shriram Finance was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 6 per cent to Rs 3,280 after it reported 18 per cent jump in second-quarter profit on Friday, propelled by robust growth in its key lending segments. The company reported a standalone net profit of Rs 2,071 crore for the quarter ended September 30, compared to Rs 1,751 crore a year ago.

ICICI Bank climbed 3 per cent and was top contributor to the Nifty 50 index after it surpassed analyst estimates in September quarter. The country's second largest private sector lender, on Saturday reported net profit of Rs 11,746 crore for quarter ended September 2024, marking an increase of 14.5 per cent from Rs 10,261 crore in the same period last year. The jump in profit came on the back of strong demand for loans.

State Bank of India, Bharat Petroleum, Hindalco, NTPC, Grasim and Tata Consultancy Services also rose between 0.5-1.8 per cent.

On the flipside, Coal India, ONGC , Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Auto, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consumer Products and JSW Steel were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,725 shares were advancing while 1,377 were declining on the BSE.