Indian share markets began the trading week on a strong note owing to continued buying by DIIs and better-than-expected earnings from some blue-chip companies.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed higher by 205 points and the NSE Nifty finished up 63 points. The S&P BSE Mid Cap finished up by 0.4% while & S&P BSE Small Cap finished up by 0.2%. Gains were largely seen in consumer durables stocks, metal stocks and PSU stocks.

Meanwhile, the Nifty pharma index declined 2.2%, falling for a seventh session in eight, hitting its lowest level since July 5. Pharmaceutical stocks are likely to recover gradually until evidence comes through that the US health regulator is working to lift sanctions on product launches.

Dr Reddy's Lab share price, Sun Pharma share price and Lupin share price fell 3.4%, 3.6% and 3.1% respectively.

L&T share price surged 2.9% after the company reported a 50.6% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 10.3 billion for the first quarter ended 30 June. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 6.8 billion in the corresponding period a year ago.

Asian stock markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng gained 1.28% and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.61%. The Nikkei 225 lost 0.17%. European markets are higher today with shares in London leading the region. The FTSE 100 is up 0.59% while Germany's DAX is up 0.16% and France's CAC 40 is up 0.11%.

The rupee was trading at Rs 64.07 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 49.80 at the time of writing.

Moving on to news from banking sector. SBI share price surged 4.4% after the bank decided to introduce a two-tier savings rate with effect from 31 July 2017.

While balance above Rs 10 million will continue to attract interest of 4% per annum, accounts with balance below Rs 10 million will have an interest rate of 3.5% per annum. The move comes on the back of decline in the rate of inflation and high real interest rates.

In another development, Central bank of India share price fell 4% before recovering and finishing up by 0.4% after the bank reported a net loss of Rs 5.76 billion for the quarter ended 30 June. The bank had reported a net loss of Rs 5.99 billion in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Its provisioning and contingencies, however, fell to Rs 12.69 billion during the quarter from Rs 15.43 billion a year ago. Gross non-performing assets (NPA) of the bank rose to 18.23% from 13.52%, while net NPA too jumped to 11.04% from 8.17%.

In another development, the initial public offering (IPO) of Security and Intelligence Services (SIS), received bids for 14% of the total issue size on Day 1 of the bidding process.

The company, which provides security solutions and business support services across India and Australia, has already raised Rs 3.5 billion from 18 anchor investors including ADIA, Reliance Capital Trustee and Birla Sun Life Trustee Company.

The issue comprises of fresh equity shares aggregating up to Rs 3.6 billion and an offer for sale of up to 5,120,619 equity shares by the selling shareholders. The company has fixed Rs 805-815 price band for the three-day issue that closes on Wednesday.

Interestingly, in FY17, the amount of money raised through 25 IPOs nearly doubled to Rs 282 billion. The IPOs were well received, with a majority (15 of them) getting oversubscribed by over 10 times.

IPO Market Buzzing

After a bumper year in FY17, abundant liquidity has fueled expectations that fund raising through IPOs would remain robust in FY18. And may even surpass the amount raised in FY17.

The fiscal started with 26 offerings in the first three months. In fact, India was the most active regional market in the Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) region as per a quarterly report by consultancy firm Ernst and Young.

However, we don't need thousands of IPOs to get rich. That's not how super investors make their fortunes. But a few good IPOs could certainly become the multibaggers in your portfolio in a few years.

We have reviewed each of them and have released their recommendation notes. You can check the same on their IPO page.

And here's a note from Profit Hunter

The State Bank of India (SBI) is the top gainer in the Nifty 50 Index. Let's have a look at its chart.

In an earlier note, we mentioned the stock breaking below the 282 neckline level of head and shoulder pattern. The 282 level also acted as important support and resistance several times in the past. But we mentioned that if the stock does not sustain below this level, the bulls might be back in action.

In a few trading session, the stock recovered strongly to close above the 282 level. The head and shoulder pattern failed and the stock continued to show strength.

Today, the stock rallied strongly 4.5% with healthy volumes to trade close to its 52-week high after the bank decided to introduce a two-tier savings rate with effect from 31 July 2017.

Does this indicate further strength in the counter? Let's wait and watch.

SBI Rallied 4.5% for the Day