Sensex ends 231 pts higher led by ICICI Bank gains

3.45 pm:

The Sensex ended the session on a high note on the gains of banking stocks led by ICICI Bank.

The bourse settled the day at 30,126.21, 231.41 points higher (0.77%)

The Nifty50 index ended the day at 9,359.90, up 47.95 points (0.51%)

ICICI Bank was the top gainer with 9.24 per cent followed by Adani Ports and Axis Bank.

Tata Motors was the top gainer failling over 2 per cent.

On the NSE index, ICICI Bank recorded 9.09 per cent gains followed by SBI and Grasim.

2.19 pm:

Sensex trades at 30,145.18, soaring 250.38 points (0.84%) while thw Nifty50 holds at 9,354.40, up 42.45 points. (0.46%)

Leading the gain was ICICI Bank pulling off a stellar performance, clocking 9.7 per cent on the Sensex.

On the NSE, the scrip was trading 9.6 per cent higher.

10.50 am:

A new policy that aims to achieve steel making capacity of 300 million tonnes by 2030 with an additional investment of Rs 10 lakh crore got the Cabinet green light on Wednesday.

The Cabinet also approved a policy for use of domestic steel products in government organisations.

"The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to the National Steel Policy (NSP) 2017," the steel ministry said in a statement.

Many steel assets are under pressure today led by Hindalco and Vedanta falling over 2 per cent.

10.41 am:

Sensex soars 181.85 points (0.61%) to trade at 30,076.65 while the Nifty50 was ruling at 9,347.65, up 35.70 points (0.38%)

ICICI Bank advances gains to trade 8.45 per cent higher on the back of upbeat Q4 results.

9.45 am:

Shares of ICICI Bank surged to 7.77 per cent on the BSE Sensex.

Other gainers include SBI, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, L&T and Asian Paint.

9.30 am:

The Indian benchmark indices started on a higher note on Thursday on the back of banking stocks that gained after the Cabinet on Wednesday approved a new policy to deal with the Rs 6 lakh crore worth non-performing assets (NPAs).

The domestic equities also got a boost after the US Federal Reserve kept its policy rate unchanged in its two-day policy review.

Nifty PSU Bank index was the leading gainer among sectoral indices, led by gains in Oriental Bank, Union Bank and Syndicate Bank.

ICICI Bank jumped over 6 per cent after the the private sector lender reported manifold jump in standalone net profit to Rs 2,024.64 crore for the quarter ended March 31.

The bank had made a net profit of Rs 701.89 crore in the January-March quarter of the fiscal year 2015-16.

9.29 am:

Sensex trades at 30,067.92, soaring 173.12 points (0.58%)

Nifty50 at 9,350.35, up 38.40 points (0.41%)

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.52 per cent while China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.07 per cent in their early deals.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.04 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.