PSU bank shares on roll; check what’s boosting Nifty PSU Bank index

The index gained ahead of a meeting between the Finance Minister and chiefs of public sector banks for Saturday.

Shares of PSU banks are trading at a higher note with PSU Bank index gaining over 3 per cent  in early intraday trade Friday. The index gained ahead of a meeting between the Finance Minister and chiefs of public sector banks for Saturday. The market is also expecting the public lenders to gain from the lower yields on government bonds after the RBI, on Thursday, said in a notification that it will buy  10-year bonds worth Rs 10,000 crore simultaneously sell four bonds maturing in 2020 for up to the same amount on December 30 in the open market. The central bank conducted a similar operation earlier this week. The PSU Bank index was trading at 2,574.85, up 79.25 points, or 3.18 per cent.

The major gainers in the PSU Bank index include Allahabad Bank, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank, Bank of Baroda, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Indian Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of India, and J & K Bank.

Also read: Sensex jumps over 15 points, Nifty crosses 12,200 mark

Meanwhile, the benchmark equity indices — Sensex and Nifty — are trading on a higher note after three days of fall tracking global cues. The 30-share BSE index was trading 261.65 points or 0.64 per cent higher at 41,428.97, and the broader NSE Nifty jumped 77.65 points or 0.64 per cent to 12,204.20. While SBI led the list of gainers, the others in the top performers include PowerGrid, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries (RIL), Maruti and HDFC twins. Among the laggards were TCS, Tata Steel and HCL. The currency gained in the early trade tracking appreciation in the domestic equity market, even as crude oil prices firmed up, the experts said. The rupee on Thursday had closed at 71.31 against the dollar. In the early trade today, the 10-year government bond yield was at 6.51.