Mumbai, Oct 20 : The Bank Nifty index touched a fresh record high on Monday, driven by a strong rally in private bank stocks following robust second-quarter results.

The index jumped over 500 points, or around 1 per cent, to reach 58,242.50 during the session.

AU Small Finance Bank led the gains, soaring nearly 8 per cent to Rs 854.10 apiece. Although the bank's net profit for the September quarter slipped about 2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 561 crore, its net interest income rose by almost 9 per cent to Rs 2,144 crore, boosting investor sentiment.

Federal Bank and IDFC First Bank shares also surged around 7 per cent each after reporting strong earnings for Q2 FY26.

Among other gainers, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Axis Bank, and Canara Bank advanced over 2 per cent each, while IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), and Bank of Baroda added nearly 2 per cent.

Heavyweights Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank were also trading higher with marginal gains.

However, ICICI Bank shares bucked the trend, falling more than 2 per cent after the lender posted moderate loan growth in the second quarter of FY26.

Analysts attributed the rally to broad-based strength across both private and public sector banks. They said that the banking index scaled a new high on strong participation from across the sector.

Experts added that the next upside targets for Bank Nifty are 58,500 and 60,000, while support levels are placed at 56,500 and 55,800 in case of profit-taking.

Analysts also noted that 57,300'57,000 is likely to act as a key support zone for the index, with resistance seen around 58,300'58,500.

'The strong performance of the banking index reflects renewed optimism among investors, supported by healthy earnings and improving credit growth across the sector,' market experts mentioned.

/IANS