Within the Nifty Bank pack, shares of Canara Bank, IDFC First Bank, AU Small Finance Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank rose between 2% and 2.5%, emerging as the session’s top performers.
Indian stocks opened in the green on the day, with the S&P BSE Sensex advancing 179 points, or 0.21%, to 84,742.54, and the NSE Nifty 50 adding 49 points, or 0.19%, to 25,959.45.
Also read | Sensex jumps over 200 pts, Nifty tops 25,950 as earnings optimism lifts mood; bank index hits new high
Banking and financial stocks drove the early upmove. The Nifty PSU Bank index climbed 1.2%, while the Nifty Private Bank and FMCG indices added 0.5% each. The Nifty Financial Services index also ticked up 0.4%.
Kotak jumps on stock-split plan
Kotak Mahindra Bank, India’s third-largest private lender by market value, gained 2% to its day’s high of Rs 2,116.80 after announcing that its board will consider a proposal to split its shares on November 21, its first such move in 15 years.
On the 30-stock Sensex, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance and Titan edged up between 0.7% and 1.5%, helping support the index’s early gains.
Earnings pulse strengthens
Investors also drew comfort from stronger-than-expected corporate performance. “The Q2 results declared so far indicate an uptrend in earnings growth, with net profits having grown by 10.8%, which is the best in the last six quarters,” said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, noting that the results represent “a beat over earlier estimates.”
The trend, he said, shows promise of carrying into the next quarter. “The present trends in consumption indicate that earnings will further improve in Q3. Discretionary consumption, particularly automobiles, will lead earnings growth in Q3. Whether the present boom in consumption will continue even after the festival season is to be watched,” he added.
Despite the day’s record-setting moves, foreign investor behaviour remains a key overhang. “A sustained uptrend in the market and new record highs have not been happening since FIIs continued selling on all rallies,” Vijayakumar said. A shift in foreign institutional investor strategy, he added, is essential for markets “to break into new record highs and remain there.”
He pointed out that the needed catalyst may be improved profitability: “This, in turn, requires steady improvement in earnings growth, which is likely from Q3 onwards. If the global AI trade loses steam, that would be a helpful factor.”
The broader rebound in sentiment comes as investors digest the NDA’s win in the Bihar Elections 2025 and latch onto momentum in select stocks, even as uncertainty lingers over progress on a potential U.S.-India trade deal.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
