By Vivek Kumar M
(Reuters) -India’s benchmark indexes on Tuesday logged their highest closing levels in nearly four months, fuelled by gains in heavyweight financials after the central bank relaxed deposit buffer rules for lenders.
The Nifty 50 rose 0.17% to 24,167.25 and the BSE Sensex added 0.24% to 79,595.59, their highest closing levels since January 2.
This was the sixth session of gains for both benchmarks.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday directed lenders to assign a lower-than-proposed buffer rate of 2.5% on digitally linked deposits and reduced the ‘run-off’ factor on wholesale deposits into banks from non-financial entities.
IIFL Capital estimated that these measures could boost the banks’ net interest margin between 1 bps and 18 bps and add about 1%-4% to net profit.
The Nifty Bank index rose 0.6% and hit a record high for the second consecutive session, with HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank hitting record high levels for a third straight session.
Kotak Mahindra Bank also hit a lifetime high, rising 1.2%.
In contrast, IndusInd Bank tumbled 4.9% after The Economic Times reported the lender roped in EY for a second forensic audit to probe a 6-billion-rupee ($70.5 million) discrepancy related to its microfinance portfolio.
Shares in information technology companies , which earn a large chunk of revenue from the United States, drifted 0.6% lower – pulling back after a more-than-2% jump in the previous session – as the dollar’s weakness weighed.
The broader mid- and small-caps rose 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively.
Among other stocks, consumer firms Hindustan Unilever and ITC rose 2% and 2.5%, respectively, after UBS upgraded the stocks to “buy” from “neutral” on strong fiscal 2026 growth prospects.
($1 = 85.1240 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Sonia Cheema and Janane Venkatraman)
