Indian shares ended at record closing highs on Thursday, driven by strong gains in financial stocks such as ICICI Bank Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd. The benchmark BSE index closed up 0.36 percent to 38024.37, a record high, while the broader NSE index ended 0.18 percent higher at 11470.7, its highest ever.
India's third-biggest lender by assets, ICICI Bank ended 4.8 percent higher at 333.95 rupees, while Axis Bank rose 4.35 percent to 622.2 rupees. In response to a media report on Tuesday that said ICICI masked its bad loans via change in accounting policy, the company said on Wednesday it had made full disclosure in its annual report, investor presentations and analysts calls.
"The banking sector is taking the lead, so the Nifty and the Sensex are cruising" said Siddharth Sedani, Vice President, Head Equity Advisory, Anand Rathi. India's central bank on Wednesday approved the transfer of surplus amounting to 500 billion rupees to the government.
"Banking sector is doing well because treasury incomes will improve on the amount given by RBI to the government, which will improve the treasury income for the banks", Sedani added.
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