Markets resume rally as bank stocks spurt

Mumbai: Equity indices resumed their upward march on Friday as investors piled into banking and infrastructure stocks amid robust foreign fund inflows and a firm trend in global markets.

Reversing the previous session's decline, the BSE Sensex zoomed 306.54 points or 0.90 per cent to end at a three-month high of 34,287.24. The broader NSE Nifty rose 113.05 points or 1.13 per cent to 10,142.15.

State Bank of India (SBI) was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging 7.90 per cent, after the country's largest lender reported an over four-fold jump in standalone net profit for the March quarter at Rs 3,580.81 crore. Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank also ended with gains of up to 6 per cent.

On the other hand, TCS, HUL, Bajaj Auto and Infosys were among the laggards, skidding up to 2.19 per cent.

Reliance Industries (RIL) succumbed to profit-booking, ending flat after touching its one-year high in intra-day trade.