Indian shares advance due to record gain by ICICI

Gulf Today Report

Indian shares had a record high gain on Monday due to nine-month high gain in ICICI, private sector lender, however, larger rival HDFC Bank recorded lost.

The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.18% to 13,282.85 by 0500 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.15% at 45,145.82.

The encouraging news of coronavirus vaccine has aided the two indexes, recording five straight weeks of gains.

From a liquidity perspective, investors remain hopeful that the economy will get better, said Umesh Mehta, head of research at Samco Securities in Mumbai. 

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"Unless something really negative happens, on the vaccine front, there should not be any major correction,” he added.

ICICI Bank Ltd recorded a 2.7% increase, its highest since March. ONGC had 4.6% growth, also its highest since early March.

HDFC Bank Ltd dropped 1.8% to its lowest since mid-November and was the biggest drag on the indexes.