The key equity indices ended with substantial gains on Monday. The Nifty closed above the 22,600 level after hitting the day's low of 22,441.90 in early trade. Banking stocks witnessed buying demand while Realty and IT shares declined.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 941.12 points or 1.28% to 74,671.28. The Nifty 50 index added 223.45 points or 1% to 22,643.40.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.79% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.07%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,038 shares rose and 1,875 shares fell. A total of 175 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, soared 11.99% to 12.24.

Buzzing Index:

The PSU Bank rallied 2.56% to 7,569.05. The index advanced after declining in the past trading session.

Indian Bank (up 6.17%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 5.03%), Union Bank of India (up 3.88%), Punjab & Sind Bank (up 3.71%) and Bank of India (up 3.53%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Central Bank of India (up 3.33%), State Bank of India (up 3.14%), Indian Overseas Bank (up 2.92%), UCO Bank (up 2.63%) and Bank of Baroda (up 1.7%).

Stocks in Spotlight:

ICICI Bank rallied 4.32% after the bank reported 17.38% increase in net profit to Rs 10,707.53 crore on a 20.74% rise in total income to Rs 43,597.14 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Q4 FY23.

HCL Technologies dropped 5.75%. The IT major’s consolidated net profit declined 8.37% to Rs 3,986 crore in Q4 FY24 as against Rs 4,350 crore reported in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations rose marginally to Rs 28,499 crore in the March quarter from Rs 28,446 crore recorded in the preceding quarter of FY24.

Shares of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) tumbled 13.31% after market regulator Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) asked the exchange to pay the regulatory fee based on the notional value of its options contracts.

The market regulatory had introduced the 'regulatory fee' on recognized stock exchanges vide the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Regulatory Fee on Stock Exchanges) Regulations, 2006. As per the regulations, the stock exchanges would have to pay a regulatory fee to SEBI within a period of thirty days of conclusion of the relevant financial year.

L&T Finance advanced 2.18% after the investment company reported 10.53% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 553.88 crore in Q4 FY24 from Rs 501.08 crore posted in Q4 FY23. Total income rose 6.76% to Rs 3,677.32 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 3,444.43 crore recorded in the same period last year.

RBL Bank declined 1.32%. The private lender's standalone net profit jumped 30.1% to Rs 352.64 crore on 27.08% jump in total income to Rs 4,214.56 crore in Q4 FY24 over Q4 FY23.

Bajaj Holdings & Investment rose 0.49%. The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 2,716 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared to net profit of Rs 1,353 crore in Q4 FY23. Total income surged to Rs 1,222 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 106 crore in Q4 FY23.

Maruti Suzuki India advanced 0.14% after the auto maker's standalone net profit jumped 47.80% to Rs 3,877.8 crore in Q4 FY24 from Rs 2,623.6 crore recorded in Q4 FY23. Net sales jumped 19.06% year on year (YoY) to Rs 36,697.5 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024.

IDFC First Bank dropped 3.74% after the private bank's standalone net profit declined 9.75% to Rs 724.35 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared to Rs 802.62 crore recorded in Q4 FY23. Total income jumped 26.07% to Rs 9,861.21 crore in Q4 FY24 as against to Rs 7,821.83 crore posted in the corresponding quarter previous year.

Global Markets:

European and Asian stocks advanced on Monday. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge rose in line with expectation.

Traders look toward the Federal Reserve’s meeting this week, following another hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation reading Friday. March’s core personal consumption expenditures, excluding food and energy, rose 2.8% from a year ago.

US stocks closed higher on Friday, buoyed by a rally in megacap growth stocks following robust quarterly results from technology heavyweights Alphabet and Microsoft in addition to moderate inflation data.