Banking stocks lift indices, BSE Sensex up 350 points

MUMBAI: Healthy buying in banking and finance stocks lifted the Indian stock market on Friday with the BSE Sensex gaining over 350 points. The S&P BSE Banking index surged 4 per cent, while the Finance index was up 2.32 per cent. Sensex closed at 39,467.31, higher by 353.84 points, or 0.90 per cent, from the previous close of 39,113.47.

It had opened at 39,264.48 and touched an intra-day high of 39,579.58 and a low of 39,235.03 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 11,647.60, higher by 88.35 points, or 0.83 per cent, from its previous close. Manish Hathiramani, technical analyst with Deen Dayal Investments, said: "Nifty went very close to the 11,700 level but it acted like a psychological price point and the market retracted from there. Traders might want to take a fresh call on the markets next week with the new series in mind." He noted that the Nifty may rise closer to 11,750, which would be the next point of resistance.

The top gainers on the Sensex were IndusInd Bank (up 8.43 per cent), Axis Bank (7.73 per cent) and ICICI Bank (4.41 per cent). The major loser were Power Grid Corp (down 1.57 per cent), Asian Paints (1.23 per cent) and Infosys (1.22 per cent). (IANS)

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