Led By Axis Bank, ICICI Bank Sensex, Nifty Snap 4-Day Losing Streak

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their four-day losing streak on Monday led by gains in banking heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and State Bank of India. However, the upside was capped owing to selling pressure in HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv and Asian Paints. 

For most part of the day, benchmarks traded in a volatile manner with Sensex moving in a band of over 900 points and Nifty touching an intraday high of 18,241 and low of 17,968.50. The outperformance by the gauge of banking shares on the National Stock Exchange - Nifty Bank index helped markets end on a positive note.

The Sensex ended 145 points or 0.24 per cent higher at 60,967 and Nifty 50 index advanced 10 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 18,125.

Seven of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Bank index' over 2 per cent gain. Nifty Financial Services, PSU Bank and Private Bank indices also rose between 1-2.3 per cent.

On the other hand, Nifty Auto, FMCG, IT, Consumer Durables and Realty indices fell between 1-3 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap underperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 1.75 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped 2.4 per cent.

Among the individual Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) came under intense selling pressure after the stock came out of the National Stock Exchange's futures and options ban list on Monday. IRCTC shares fell as much as 14.32 per cent to hit an intraday low of ₹ 3,960.05.

ICICI Bank was the top Nifty gainer, the stock jumped after the bank reported a 29.6 per cent rise in net profit to ₹ 5,511 crore on a standalone basis for the July-September quarter in the financial year 2021-22, compared to ₹ 4,251.3 crore in the year-ago period. The bank's net non-performing assets (NPAs) were ₹ 8,161 crore in the September quarter, compared to ₹ 9,306 crore in the preceding April-June quarter. The net NPA ratio was 0.99 per cent by the end of September 2021, compared to 1.16 per cent by June 2021.

Axis Bank advanced 3.5 per cent to close at ₹ 845 a day ahead of its September quarter earnings.

ONGC, Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel, State Bank of India, Dr Reddy's Labs, Cipla, Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hindustan Unilever were also among the notable gainers.

On the flipside, Asian Paints was among the top Nifty losers after The Hindu BusinessLine reported that a whistleblower has alleged related party transactions by its promoters.