Sensex gains 140 pts on value buying, PNB extends rout

Punjab National Bank, at the centre of a massive Rs 11,400-crore scam, slumped by another 12 per cent.

The country's second largest state-run lender has now lost over Rs 8,000 crore of market valuation in two days -- an amount equivalent to over six-times its full-year profit.

However, other banking stocks held ground.

The 30-share Sensex rose by 141.52 points, or 0.41 per cent, to close at 34,297.47. The broader NSE Nifty gained 44.60- points, or 0.42 per cent, to end at 10,545.50 after touching a high of 10,618.10.

WPI inflation easing to a six-month low of 2.84 per cent in January and encouraging earnings by some blue-chips bolstered investor sentiment, brokers said.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 728.71 crore on net basis, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) too sold equities to the tune of Rs 152.39 crore on Wednesday, provisional data showed.

"Despite surge in US inflation to 2.1 per cent and weak consumer sales data, the global markets were positive today.

"Though domestic market traded in a positive territory, mid and small-caps witnessed selling pressure. Additionally, PSU banking index continued to under-perform due to NPA related issues. Investors are turning cautious due to rise in bond yields and possibility of faster than expected rate hike in future," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

ICICI Bank emerged as the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 3.15 per cent, while Infosys firmed up 1.47 per cent.

Other winners were Power Grid, ONGC, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Ltd, SBI, HUL, M&M, ITC, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, TCS, RIL, Maruti Suzuki and NTPC, gaining up to 1.46 per cent.

Losses in Hero Motocorp, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, L&T, Wipro, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Asian Paints squeezed the upside.

Shares of Gitanjali Gems plunged 19.97 per cent after the company came under scanner of various investigating agencies following Punjab National Bank's declaration of nearly Rs 11,400-crore fraud.

Other jewellery stocks such as PC Jeweller, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri and Rajesh Exports fell up to 5.31 per cent.

Shares of Nestle India today ended 4.28 per cent higher after the company reported a 60 per cent jump in its fourth quarter net profit and said its sales crossed the Rs 10,000-crore mark in 2017.

The BSE oil & gas took the pole position among sectoral indices, gaining 0.96 per cent, followed by metal (0.72 per cent), IT (0.44 per cent), banking (0.43 per cent), FMCG (0.33 per cent) and teck (0.22 per cent).

Telecom, consumer durables, realty, capital goods, infrastructure, power, healthcare and auto indices lost up to 1.16 per cent.

The small-cap and mid-cap indices fell by 1.27 per cent and 0.46 per cent.

Overseas, Asian stocks gained taking cues from the rally on Wall Street following the release of stronger-than-expected US inflation data.

Japan's Nikkei ended 1.47 per cent higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.97 per cent, while Shanghai market was closed today for a public holiday.

In Europe, Frankfurt's DAX was up 0.94 per cent, while Paris CAC 40 gained 1.66 per cent in their early deals. London's FTSE too went up 0.69 per cent.