Summary: Domestic indices remained volatile on Friday, but rallied in the fag-end of the session, ahead of the June quarter GDP numbers, due later in the day. Further, likely announcement by the Finance Ministry on merger of public sector banks (PSBs) increased buying interest at the counters. That apart, hopes of face-to-face trade talks between the United States and China helped ease market sentiment. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex settled 264 points, or 0.71 per cent, higher at 37,333 level. HDFC twins, ITC, ICICI Bank, and Hindustan Unilever emerged as the top contributors to the index's gain, which were up in the range of 1-3 per cent. YES Bank, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, and Tata Steel ended the day as top gainers, while Power Grid, ONGC, HCL Tech, and Larsen and Toubro were the top losers. Meanwhile, the broader Nifty50 ended at 11,023-mark, up 75 points or 0.68 per cent. Sectorally, all the indices on the NSE ended in the green. Nifty Pharma index ended the day as top gainer, up 2.4 per cent, followed by Nifty Metal index, up 1.8 per cent. In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index closed at 13,468 level, up 134 points, or 1.01 per cent. The S&P BSE SmallCap index closed at 12,535 level, up 104 points, or 0.84 per cent. PUBLIC SECTOR BANK MERGER ON THE CARDS? Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to address media later in the day, where she is likely to announce mega plan for merging multiple set of public sector banks (PSB). The department of financial services in the finance ministry called a meeting, on Friday, with chief executives of ten public sector banks which are seen as top contenders for merger. The banks invited for consultations on Friday are: Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, United Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, United Bank, Allahabad Bank, Corporation Bank, Syndicate Bank and Andhra Bank. Shares of PSBs ended mixed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday. Oriental Bank of Commerce, Central Bank of India, Syndicate Bank and Allahabad Bank gained up to 6 per cent. On the other hand, State Bank of India (SBI), Union Bank of India, Bank of India, Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda were down between 1 and 2 per cent.
