Sensex logs sixth consecutive day of gains amid uptick in banking stocks

Equity benchmark indices managed to end in the positive territory after facing volatility in the latter part of the trade on Friday amid gains in Axis Bank and ICICI Bank.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turning net buyers in the market on Thursday after many sessions also added to the momentum.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 104.25 points or 0.18 per cent higher at 59,307.15, logging its sixth day of gains. During the day, it jumped 388.03 points or 0.65 per cent to 59,590.93.

The broader NSE Nifty ended marginally higher by 12.35 points or 0.07 per cent at 17,576.30.

From the Sensex pack, Axis Bank zoomed 8.96 per cent after the company on Thursday reported a 66.29 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit for the September quarter at Rs 5,625.25 crore, driven by a substantial decrease in bad loan provisions and margin expansion.

The other major winners from the 30-share pack were ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nestle, Titan and UltraTech Cement.

However, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank and Larsen & Toubro were among the laggards.

In other Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong ended lower, while Shanghai closed with gains.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading lower in mid-session deals. Wall Street had ended lower on Thursday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.37 per cent lower at USD 92.02 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors turned net buyers after many days as they bought shares worth Rs 1,864.79 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.

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