Large caps dominate as Sensex gains more than 800 points

MUMBAI: BSE Sensex extended its gains to more than 800 points on Monday amid a strong show by banking stocks.

Sensex was trading at 74,568 points, up by 838 points. ICICI Bank is leading the banking pack with gains of more than 4 per cent after reporting strong Q4 results.

ICICI Bank delivered a steady Q4, reflected in resilient earnings delivery. Q4 PAT of Rs 107 billion was marginally above estimates on lower credit cost and curtailed opex even as treasury loss hit profitability, Elara Securities said.

SBI is up more than 3 per cent, Axis Bank is up 3 per cent, IndusInd Bank and Kotak Mahindra are up more than 2 per cent.

In a trend reversal, the benchmark Sensex has gained more than small and mid-cap stock indices. Sensex is up 1.1 per cent, while the small-cap index is up only 0.12 per cent and the mid-cap index is up only 0.63 per cent.

Only five out of the 30 stocks in the Sensex are in the red. HCL Technologies is down more than 6 per cent after Q4 results.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said ICICI Bank results are very good. Impressive growth in deposit and credit and a decline in NPAs augur well for the stock. HCL Tech’s low guidance of 3 to 5 per cent revenue growth in FY25 will weigh on the stock.