Sensex rallies 411 pts; banks lead gains

Snapping its three-day losing streak, market benchmark Sensex rallied 411 points on Friday, led by strong buying in banking, energy and auto counters amid positive global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 411.38 points, or 1 per cent, higher at 41,575.14. It hit an intra-day high of 41,611.27.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty closed 119.25 points, or 0.98 per cent, up at 12,245.80.

Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 3.33 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, SBI, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Maruti.

On the other hand, Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement, Titan and TCS fell up to 0.42 per cent.

According to traders, banking stocks rallied ahead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's meeting with heads of public sector banks on Saturday to review financial performance of the lenders and their business growth.

The meeting is expected to take up issues like non-performing asset recovery through both NCLT and non-NCLT means, take stock of the banking sector and push loan growth, sources said.

The banks may be nudged to further cut interest rates to fully pass on the transmission of the repo rate cut, they added.

Further, expectation that the "phase one" deal between the US and China will be finalised next month enthused global equities.

Bourses in Hong Kong and Seoul ended higher, while Shanghai and Tokyo slipped in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe started on a positive note.

On the currency front, the rupee depreciated 4 paise against the US dollar to 71.36 (intra-day).

Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.29 per cent to USD 68.12 per barrel.