NEW DELHI: The Nifty Private Bank index was trading 1.07 per cent up at 14,954 around 10:40 am (IST), buoyed by gains in index heavyweight ICICI Bank (up 6.49 per cent).

As per Reuters, shares of ICICI Bank rose on hopes of improvement in asset quality. Jefferies, CLSA and Kotak Institutional Equities keep rating at "buy" even after the lender reported its Q4 net profit halved as bad loans surged, Reuters added.

India's largest private sector lender by assets, on Monday reported a 49.62 per cent YoY drop in standalone profit at Rs 1,020 crore for March quarter on sharp rise in provisions for the bad loans.

Shares of Axis Bank (up 1.04 per cent), Federal Bank (up 0.74 per cent), YES Bank (up 0.63 per cent) and IDFC Bank (up 0.55 per cent) were also in the green in the Nifty Private Bank index.

However, IndusInd Bank (down 2.05 per cent), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.67 per cent), HDFC Bank (down 0.47 per cent) and RBL Bank (down 0.44 per cent) were in the red.

The BSE Sensex advanced on buying by domestic institutional investors amid positive leads from Asian markets following overnight gains on the Wall Street.

However, concern over falling rupee, surging crude oil prices and uninspiring earnings capped the gains.

Select bank, pharma, FMCG and financial counters were seeing buying interest, but IT, metal and auto stocks were under pressure.

Benchmark NSE Nifty50 index was up 24 points at 10,739, while the BSE Sensex was up 106 points at 35,314.

Among the 50 stocks in the Nifty index, 30 were trading in the green, while 20 were in the red.