Nifty PSU Bank's spike may gather momentum

Sharp rise in index attributed to sustained earnings growth

- NIKITA VASHISHT

The past six months have handsomely rewarded investors who held bank stocks in their portfolios. The gains were even better—nearly double—for those whose investments were skewed towards the public-sector bank (PSB) index.

Ace Equity data shows that the Nifty PSU Bank index surged 20.6 per cent over the past six months (till September 10), as against a 9.8 per cent rise in the Nifty Private Bank index. By comparison, the Nifty Bank index was up 13.1 per cent and the Nifty50 11.19 per cent during the period.

While Indian Bank, Canara Bank, and Bank of India led the gainers pack among the PSBs, RBL Bank, IDFC First Bank, and YES Bank led from the front at the bourses in the private bank space during the above-mentioned period, data shows.

Analysts attribute the sharp rise in the Nifty PSU Bank index to sustained stellar earnings growth, and believe the upswing in the pack still has some momentum left.