PSU Banks Rally: Nifty PSU Bank Index Bucks Market Trend

The Indian stock market witnessed a severe downturn on 19 October 2026, with the benchmark BSE Sensex plummeting 876 points (1.17%) to close at 73,852.90, and the NSE Nifty 50 shedding 257 points (1.11%) to settle at 22,888.95. However, amidst this widespread broad-based selling pressure, the state-run lenders staged a remarkable turnaround. The Nifty PSU Bank Index emerged as the sole gleaming outlier on the NSE sectoral leaderboard, surging 2.46% to close at 8,294.10. The monumental surge in public sector banks was heavily catalyzed by a spectacular kickoff to the corporate earnings season. Punjab National Bank (PNB) acted as a major market propellant after reporting a robust September quarter (Q2FY27) standalone profit after tax (PAT) of ₹5,500 crore, significantly outstripping street expectations. PNB’s stock correspondingly skyrocketed 4.78%, recording a massive trading volume of 8.16 crore shares. Similarly, Union Bank of India registered heavy institutional demand, accelerating 4.94% on a massive volume of 4.80 crore shares. Other major gainers backing the state-run rally included Bank of India (+3.75%), Bank of Baroda (+3.48%), and Canara Bank (+2.87%). Technically the Nifty PSU Bank Index has taken support at 7800 levels for 3 times and has bounced sharply from this levels. we can see a triple bottom taking place in Nifty PSU Bank Index. But, it is still in a range. Daily RSI 14 crossed above 50 and Daily MACD Histogram above zero indicates a bullish trend. PNB