A late surge in banking stocks, spurred by Cabinet decision on consolidation of public banks, pulled markets higher on Wednesday as the Sensex closed up 276 points, in line with a firming global trend. The broader Nifty ended on top of 9,800 again.
The Government today decided to set up an alternative mechanism to oversee proposals for consolidation of public sector banks (PSBs) with a view to creating fewer but stronger lenders. State-run Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Allahabad Bank, Union Bank of India and Bank of India were at the centre of investors’ attention, which recorded moderate to sizeable gains. The 30-share Sensex stayed in the positive zone all throughout and hit a high of 31,593.39 before settling up 276.16 points, or 0.88 per cent, at 31,568.01. The gauge had gained 33 points Tuesday. The 50-share Nifty too rose 86.95 points, or 0.89 per cent, to close at 9,852.50 after scaling a high of 9,857.90. It hit a low of 9,786.75. Infosys stock made a significant rally by climbing 1.98 per cent to Rs 894.50 on value-buying amid speculation that Nandan Nilekani might make a comeback as the company's head.