Markets end higher led by banks

Markets surged in late trades to end near their three-month highs, amid strong global cues, led by gains in ITC and short covering in bank shares.

The 30-share Sensex ended up 215 points at 19,889 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 72 points at 6,044.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of 8.97 billion rupees of stocks on Monday, taking the 2013 net buying to a total of $12.17 billion, provisional exchange data showed.

The broader markets underperformed the benchmarks. The BSE midcap index gained 0.8% and the smallcap index rose 0.6%.

Meanwhile, Asian markets edged higher with several markets closing at multi week highs. The Nikkei average jumped 3.6% to14,180 its highest closing level since June 2008 with exporters leading the gains.

Hong Kong shares ended at multi-week highs in choppy trades investors braced for a slew of economic data from China that could offer fresh clues on the recovery in the world's second-largest economy.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 0.6% at 23,047 and the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.2%.

In Europe, markets edged higher on the back of strong earnings from major banks. Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC and FTSE were up 0.3-0.6% each.

Back home, all sectoral indices on the BSE ended in the green. FMCG, Bankex, Realty, Auto, Capital Goods were the top gainers up 1-2%

each.

In the Sensex pack, index heavyweight ITC ended up 2.7% at Rs 335 while HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI ended up 1.4-1.9% each.

Other Sensex gainers include, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Reliance and Hero MotoCorp.

Bank shares witnessed recovery after Finance Ministry today told global rating agency Moody's that the country's growth story is credible and government is taking steps to deal with the fiscal issues.

Coal India, Wipro, Mah&Mah, Maruti Suzuki were among the Sensex losers.

Among other stocks, Allahabad Bank dipped 4.8% to end at Rs 126 on reporting 69% year-on-year fall in its net profit at Rs 126 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, due to higher provisioning for bad loans and lower net interest income.

Aban Offshore surged 3.6% to end at Rs 331 after oil exploration and production firm said it has signed contract for the deployment of the jack-up rig Deep Driller 7 offshore Mexico for a firm period of 1005 days, ending December 31, 2015.

M&M Financial Services rallied 10% to Rs 258 after the company said it seeks shareholders approval via postal ballot to increase in the borrowing limit for expansions and to meet increased financial needs of the company.

Lanco Industries surged 20% to Rs 23.95 after the company said it has decided to withdraw its proposal to set up a mini cement plant in Andhra Pradesh.

The market breadth ended positive with 1,353 gainers and 1,064 losers on the BSE.