Bank Nifty Surges More Than 1% As HDFC Bank, SBI And ICICI Bank Drive Broad-Based Rally

All 14 stocks included in the Nifty Bank Index ended the day in the green. Strong gains in heavyweight lenders, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India, helped push the banking benchmark up more than 1%, making it one of the best-performing sectoral indices during the session.

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At around 9:55 am, the Nifty Bank index was trading 1.25% higher at 55,867.40. The move outpaced the broader Nifty 50, which gained 0.84%. Other banking gauges also remained firm, with the Nifty PSU Bank index rising 1.29% and the Nifty Private Bank index advancing 1.14%.

HDFC Bank Leads Banking Pack

HDFC Bank emerged as one of the biggest contributors to the market’s advance, rising nearly 2% to ₹758.90. Among private lenders, Federal Bank gained 1.7%, Kotak Mahindra Bank added 1.1%, Axis Bank rose 1%, while ICICI Bank traded 0.6% higher.

Public sector banks also witnessed healthy buying activity. Canara Bank advanced more than 2%, while Punjab National Bank gained 1.7%. Union Bank of India rose 1.6%, Bank of Baroda added 1%, and State Bank of India climbed nearly 1%.

The rally reflected widespread participation across the banking sector rather than gains concentrated in a handful of stocks.

Improved Global Sentiment Supports Financial Stocks

Banking counters received support from an improvement in global risk sentiment after hopes of easing tensions in West Asia weighed on crude oil prices. Brent crude slipped to its lowest level in nearly two months, improving the outlook for inflation-sensitive sectors.

Lower oil prices have traditionally been seen as good for India because they could help reduce imported inflation and stabilize the macroeconomic situation in India. In addition, financial stocks have gained as there has been lower volatility, with India VIX dropping by more than 4% at the time of writing.

The wider market was buoyed by the optimistic mood, and major indices were up along with some interest rate sensitive sectors.

Key Levels In Focus

Market participants are closely tracking the Bank Nifty’s movement near the 55,800-56,000 zone, which remains an important resistance area for the index.

According to Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, the banking index continues to display relative strength compared with the broader market. He noted that a sustained move above the resistance band could support further upside towards the 56,500-56,800 range.

On the downside, the immediate support area is placed between 55,000 and 54,800. Holding above these levels would keep the current recovery trend intact, while a breach could trigger renewed selling pressure in the near term.

With both private and state-run lenders participating in Friday’s advance, banking stocks remained at the centre of market action and provided significant support to benchmark indices.