PSU Bank extends gain; PNB, Allahabad Bank up 3%

Shares of public sector bank were in focus for the second straight day with Nifty PSU Bank index nearly 1%, extending its Thursday’s 5% surge, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained status quo on the key short-term borrowing rate in its first bi-monthly monetary policy for the financial year 2018-19 (FY19) on Thursday.
Punjab National Bank (PNB), Allahabad Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Canara Bank were up in the range of 1% to 4% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Nifty PSU Bank index was up 0.93% at 3,021 in intra-day trade today in otherwise subdued market. With the today’s gain, the PSU bank index surged 11% from its recent low of 2,716 recorded on March 23, 2018. The benchmark Nifty 50 index gained 3% during the same period.

“Yesterday good tail end exuberance in PSU banking was certainly an eye catching move. Hence, traders should watch out for this space as we expect continuation of this optimism in next couple of days,” Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking said.