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Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
RBI Hits the Bull's Eye: Stocks Surge 1%
Live Events Equities surged about 1% Friday as the Reserve Bank of India 's bigger-than-expected cut in the key policy rate and the surprise move to ease liquidity came as an impetus to a market starved of fresh triggers. Shares of lenders, real estate developers and automobile makers led the rise, with the Nifty Bank index hitting a record on expectations that the central bank's measures will ease pressure on their profitability and boost BSE Sensex rose 746.95 points to end at 82,188. The NSE Nifty 50 advanced 252.15 points to close at 25,003. 'The most important point is that monetary policy is supportive of growth and growth is good for equities,' said Ramesh Mantri, CIO, WhiteOak Capital rally on Friday helped the Sensex and Nifty post nearly 1% gains for the week and snap their two-week losing streak. Continuation of the trend will depend on the Nifty crossing a key hurdle at 25,120-25,200, beyond which it could advance to 25,500, say market watchers. Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto rose 1.5% each, while the Nifty Realty shot up by about 5%.'The frontloading of rate cuts augurs well for finance companies, real estate, auto and banking,' said Sunny Agrawal, head of fundamental equity research, SBI Securities.'This (frontloading of rate cuts) will have a lag effect on NII (net interest income) and immediate impact of boost in treasury income and also on urban consumption,' said greater-than-expected interest rate cut of 50 basis points and the liquidity dose were positive surprises. But the central bank's policy stance shift to 'neutral' from 'accommodative' and governor Sanjay Malhotra's remark that monetary policy is left with 'very limited space' to support growth may keep the optimism in are reasonable, except for 'narrative-driven' sectors, said Mirae Asset Investment Managers CIO Neelesh Surana, while warning investors to moderate their expectation of returns from equity. 'New investors could consider hybrid funds and avoid thematic funds,' said broader market also ended higher, with the Nifty Midcap 150 rising nearly 1% and the Nifty Smallcap 250 up 0.6%. Of the 4,156 stocks traded on the BSE, 2,278 advanced, while 1,744 Volatility Index, or VIX, the market's fear measure, declined 3% to 14.3, in line with the market rise, suggesting traders do not see risks of sharp moves in the near Asian markets, sentiment remained tepid. Chinese and Hong Kong equities ended slightly lower after a call between US and Chinese leaders failed to show progress on trade. The Shanghai Composite was flat, and the Hang Seng slipped 0.5%.At home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers, purchasing shares worth Rs 1,010 crore on Friday. So far in June, they have been sellers to the tune of about ₹7,700 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth ₹9,342 crore on Friday Fund managers said the fall in interest rates could make equities more popular than fixed income.'The competition for interest rates is equities but as we see debt yields are falling, equities are likely to become more attractive,' said Mantri.
Time of India
22-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Nifty Bank soars to new high on strong Q4 scores
Mumbai: A renewed wave of optimism lifted domestic lenders to record levels as better-than-expected March quarter results at top banks buttressed their investment case, already in focus of late on account of the preference for sectors benefiting from local prospects amid lingering uncertainty over trade tariffs. Expectations of more interest rate cuts , with the Reserve Bank of India signalling its intent to ease liquidity conditions, are also fuelling investor appetite for banks of late. The NSE's Nifty Bank index surged 1.9% on Monday, boosting the gauge to record highs, scaling the highs last made on September 26. The broader NSE Nifty surged 1.15% to 24,125.55 points while the BSE Sensex was up 1.09% to 79,408.50 points. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now Undo AU Small Finance Bank was the top gainer on the Nifty Bank Index, up 7.3%, followed by IDFC First Bank and IndusInd Bank , which gained 5.8% and 4%, respectively. Investor appetite for banks got a boost after the fourth-quarter results of HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank over the weekend beat estimates. HDFC rose 1% and ICICI was up 0.1%. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Agencies 'Rally Driven by Rate Cuts' "Banks did well on Monday, because of strong results from large private banks and the absence of negative surprises in terms of asset quality," said Ramesh Mantri, chief investment officer at WhiteOak Capital AMC. Private lenders are back on investors' radar as part of a broader shift in their interest in domestic economy-facing sectors, which are perceived to be relatively insulated from the effects of US President Donald Trump's tariffs on the global economy. Live Events "While slower economic growth continues to be a concern, the banking sector is in a better position compared to many others during global uncertainty, since it mainly serves the domestic market," said Mantri. Since April 7, when the market recovery started, the Bank Nifty index has gained nearly 11% as against the 9% upmove in the Nifty. The bounce in bank shares was instrumental in lifting the key indices because the weight of shares of lenders on these benchmarks is the highest at nearly 30%. So far in 2025, the Nifty Bank index has moved up 8.7%, against the Nifty's gains of 2%. "The recent rally in banking stocks can be largely attributed to the ongoing interest rate cut cycle, which has been beneficial for the sector," said Vikas Khemani, founder, Carnelian Asset Management and Advisors. "Rate cuts also tend to support credit growth within the broader economy, and we believe this move positions banks favourably for the next 12-18 months." The RBI has cut the key policy rate by a total 50 basis points this year. This is expected to ease pressure on banks' margins. Banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) - mostly mid and small-sized - had been beaten down in the sell-off since late September on account of rising bad loans in the microfinance segment and other asset quality concerns. The RBI had flagged asset quality concerns for unsecured loans in December last year. Much of this has eased for now. "Most asset quality concerns in the banking sector have been addressed, and we believe the next two to three years will see a phase of leveraging that should support growth for banks," said Anil Rego, founder and fund manager at Right Horizons Portfolio Management Services.
