Sensex shrugs IIP data, jumps to day's high; banks lead

The BSE Sensex moved to near day's high again as it shrugged off industrial output for February. The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks - the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 1.2% each.

The BSE Bankex spiked 1.8% as country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank surged 2% each while rivals HDFC Bank was up 1%. Axis Bank rallied 2.7%.

The BSE benchmark climbed 161.5 points or 0.94% to 17,360.87 and the NSE benchmark gained 53 points to 5,279.75.

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The growth in February industrial production (IIP) came in at 4.1%, which is an improvement over the January number. The January IIP number has been revised to 1.1% from 6.8% (provisional). The Central Statistical Organization revised January IIP figure after it spotted an error in sugar output numbers. Based on the January provisional numbers, a CNBC-TV18 poll had estimated February IIP growth flat at 6.7% .

Shares of ITC, top cigarette manufacturer jumped 1.5% and FMCG major HUL went up 1%.

Engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro rose 1.5% and state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals was up 2%.

Oil & gas producer Reliance Industries and top telecom operator were up 1% each.

However, technology stocks were moderately lower ahead of fourth quarter earnings by Infosys. CNBC-TV18 expects a fall of 3.4% QoQ in net profit of Rs 2290 crore for the quarter ended March 2012.

In the second line shares, Schneider Electic, Max India, AstraZeneca, Whirlpool and Novartis India shot up 5-9.5%.