BENGALURU, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Indian shares closed at all-time highs on Monday, led by gains in banks as strong corporate earnings raised hopes of a faster economic recovery.
Domestic stock indexes have rallied more than 12% in February on a high-spending federal budget, better-than-expected December-quarter corporate earnings and strong foreign fund inflows.
On Monday, the NSE Nifty 50 index .NSEI ended 1% higher at 15,314.70, while the S&P BSE Sensex .BSESN closed 1.18% higher at 52,154.13.
The top seven contributors to the Nifty 50's advance on Monday were banking and financial firms, with HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS the top boosts, gaining 2.2% and 4.2%, respectively. Banking stocks .NSEBANK jumped 3.32%.
December-quarter profits for Indian companies surged 49% year-on-year, the biggest increase in four quarters, Refinitiv data for 220 companies with at least $500 million in market value showed.
Among earnings-driven moves, Deepak Nitrite DPNT.NS and Dilip Buildcon DIBL.NS rose more than 6% each, after the companies posted higher profits.
Indiabulls Housing Finance INBF.NS fell 6.3% and Timken India TIMK.NS shed 9.1% on quarterly profit declines.
Helping sentiment was buoyant global markets, which rose for the 11th day in a row to hit a fresh peak on optimism about the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and new fiscal aid from Washington. MKTS/GLOB