Indian equity benchmarks opened strongly today with support from strong quarterly results of ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. The banking giants reported better-than-anticipated earnings for March 2025 quarter, which triggered new buying interest and lifted the broad indices irrespective of mixed global leads and some pressure induced by IT sector results.
Key Highlights:
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ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank Beat Estimates: ICICI Bank's net profit increased 18% from the same period last year to ₹12,630 crore, with net interest income (NII) increasing 11%. HDFC Bank's net profit increased 6.7% to ₹17,616 crore, with NII increasing 10.3%. Both banks recorded better net interest margins and stable asset quality, with ICICI Bank's NIM at 4.41% and HDFC Bank's at 3.65%.
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Market Reaction: The shares of both banks reached all-time highs last week, with HDFC Bank rising 7.2% and ICICI Bank 5.5%. Their good show helped Nifty and Sensex record their highest weekly gains in more than four years, and Nifty Bank closed at near-record highs.
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Foreign Investor Inflows: The return of foreign portfolio investors, driven by a weaker US dollar and optimism about India's growth prospects, fueled the bullishness.
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Sectoral Trends: Although banking and financials spearheaded the rally, IT stocks were left behind with disappointing performances by Infosys and Wipro that muted overall gains.
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Technical Outlook: Nifty is probing resistance levels at 23,800–24,000. A break above could push the index towards 24,800 with heavy trading volumes and positive momentum indicators favoring the uptrend.
With the pace being led by the banking chiefs, the mood in the market is buoyant, even as investors are waiting for more direction from the coming earnings and international events.
Sources: India Today, News Arena India, CNBC-TV18, Financial Express, CNBC-TV18