Nifty and Sensex benefit from corporate profits

(Reuters) – Indian stocks opened on a positive note Monday as investors welcome strong second-quarter earnings from large-cap companies such as ICICI Bank Ltd and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.

The broad NSE Nifty was up 0.6% at 10,091 at 0602 GMT, while the BSE Sensex benchmark was up 0.6% at 33,540.32.

This follows a tumultuous week around the world, marked by growing concerns about corporate profits and slowing global economic growth.

ICICI Bank, the third-largest Indian bank in terms of assets, announced Friday a larger-than-expected decline of 56 percent of its net income in the second quarter.

ICICI's largest rival, HDFC Bank, dropped 3.4 percent to its lowest level since April 23, while Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. dropped 5.2 percent.

"ICICI's results have stood out and the money flows in, which is a lot cheaper than Kotak and HDFC," said Naveen Kulkarni, head of research at Reliance Securities. "ICICI, which has fallen behind the other two banks, could now catch up."

Axis Bank climbed 7.3%, while State Bank of India's public bank grew 4.8%.

The Nifty PSU Bank index rose up to 4.6%.

Reddy's Laboratories Ltd rose 6.4%, its biggest gain since May 22, after the drug maker reported a better-than-expected earnings growth in the second quarter, helped by higher sales in some markets. emerging countries.

Macquarie and Citi raised their target price on the stock, with a "neutral" rating.

The Nifty Pharma index jumped 4.3%.

Conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd increased 2.4%.