The market settled higher due to firm global cues and strong buying in banking and capital goods shares. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 256.10 points or 0.74% to settle at 34,969.70. The Nifty 50 index rose 74.50 points or 0.70% to settle at 10,692.30. Continuous buying by domestic institutional investors also boosted sentiment. The Sensex settled below the psychologically important 35,000 mark after crossing that level in intraday trade. The Sensex and the Nifty, both, settled at their highest closing level in 12 weeks. Overseas, shares in Europe and Asia rose after US equities were buoyed by solid earnings results and a rebound in technology stocks as US bond yields pulled back. Meanwhile, Euro was hovering near three-month lows after the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged. Back home, the Sensex rose 256.10 points or 0.74% to settle at 34,969.70, its highest closing level since 2 February 2018. The index rose 351.77 points, or 1.01% at the day's high of 35,065.37. The index rose 31.13 points, or 0.09% at the day's low of 34,744.73. The Nifty 50 index rose 74.50 points or 0.70% to settle at 10,692.30, its highest closing level since 2 February 2018. The index rose 102 points, or 0.96% at the day's high of 10,719.80. The index rose 29.75 points, or 0.28% at the day's low of 10,647.55. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.79%, outperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.42%, underperforming the Sensex. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,407 shares rose and 1,226 shares fell. A total of 138 shares were unchanged. Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE IT index (down 1.06%), the S&P BSE Teck index (down 0.74%), the S&P BSE Consumer Durables index (down 0.25%), the S&P BSE Power index (up 0.20%), the S&P BSE Auto index (up 0.24%), the S&P BSE FMCG index (up 0.24%), the S&P BSE Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services index (up 0.27%), the S&P BSE Utilities index (up 0.31%), the S&P BSE Realty index (up 0.37%), the S&P BSE Telecom index (up 0.39%), the S&P BSE Metal index (up 0.61%) and the S&P BSE Basic Materials index (up 0.69%), underperforming the Sensex. The S&P BSE Healthcare index (up 0.75%), the S&P BSE Industrials index (up 0.87%), the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index (up 1.05%), the S&P BSE Finance index (up 1.16%), the S&P BSE Energy index (up 1.32%), the S&P BSE Capital Goods index (up 1.40%) and the S&P BSE Bankex (up 2%), outperforming the Sensex. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained 1.99% to Rs 994.75 ahead of its Q4 results today, 27 April 2018. Car major Maruti Suzuki India fell 1.90% to Rs 8,777.95. The company announced that its net profit rose 10% to Rs 1882.10 crore on 14.4% increase in net sales to Rs 20594.30 crore in Q4 March 2018 over Q4 March 2017. Increase in effective tax rate impacted net profit, the company said. The result was announced during trading hours today, 27 April 2018. Most capital goods shares rose. BEML (up 2.03%), AIA Engineering (up 1.94%), Bharat Electronics (up 1.6%), Suzlon Energy (up 1.21%), Thermax (up 0.84%), Jindal Saw (up 0.74%), Havells India (up 0.64%), Punj Lloyd (up 0.59%), Lakshmi Machine Works (up 0.36%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 0.17%), Praj Industries (up 0.11%) and Siemens (up 0.09%), edged higher. GE T&D India (down 0.41%), ABB India (down 0.46%), GE Power India (down 0.58%), SKF India (down 0.98%), Crompton Greaves (down 2.85%) and Reliance Defence and Engineering (down 7.22%), edged lower. Engineering & construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 2.23% to Rs 1,377. Banks shares were in demand. Among public sector banks, Andhra Bank (up 7.34%), Dena Bank (up 4.64%), Bank of Baroda (up 4.37%), Allahabad Bank (up 4.13%), State Bank of India (up 3.99%), Union Bank of India (up 3.91%), Bank of India (up 3.81%), Vijaya Bank (up 3.02%), Canara Bank (up 2.70%), Punjab National Bank (up 2.69%), UCO Bank (up 2.58%), Syndicate Bank (up 2.45%), Punjab & Sind Bank (up 1.15%), United Bank of India (up 1.09%), Central Bank of India (up 1.08%), IDBI Bank (up 1.05%) and Corporation Bank (up 0.67%), edged higher. Indian Bank (down 0.21%) and Bank of Maharashtra (down 0.36%), edged lower. Among private sector banks, ICICI Bank (up 3.34%), RBL Bank (up 3.16%), Federal Bank (up 1.13%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 0.53%), City Union Bank (up 0.36%) and IndusInd Bank (up 0.34%), edged higher. HDFC Bank (down 0.39%) and Yes Bank (down 1.02%), edged lower. Axis Bank surged 8.97% to Rs 538.90, with the stock reversing intraday losses in highly volatile trade in reaction to Q4 result announced by the bank after market hours yesterday, 26 April 2018. The bank reported net loss of Rs 2188.74 crore in Q4 March 2018 as compared with net profit of Rs 1225.10 crore in Q4 March 2017. Total income rose 2.67% to Rs 14559.85 crore in Q4 March 2018 over Q4 March 2017. Axis Bank said that after making mandatory appropriations to Statutory Reserve, Investment Reserve and Capital Reserve, no profits are available for distribution as dividend for the financial year ended 31 March 2018 (FY 2018). Accordingly, no dividend has been recommended by the board of directors for FY 2018. As on 31 March 2018, the bank's Gross NPA and Net NPA levels rose to 6.77% and 3.40% from 5.28% and 2.56% as on 31 December 2017, respectively. As on 31 March 2018, the bank's Gross NPA stood at Rs 34249 crore and Net NPA stood at Rs 16592 crore. The bank has recognised slippages of Rs 16536 crore in Q4 March 2018. This includes an accelerated recognition in the stressed loan book of the bank, particularly in the power sector. It also includes a onetime impact driven by recent regulatory guidelines on resolution of stressed assets. As on 31 March 2018, the bank's provision coverage, as a proportion of Gross NPAs including prudential write-offs, stood at 65%. Under Basel III, Total Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) CAR & Tier I CAR stood at 16.57% and 13.04%, respectively. Net interest margin for Q4 March 2018 stood at 3.33%.