India’s Nifty 50 Index hits a fresh record high of 9,200 briefly in the opening hours, while the benchmark 30-share Sensex index hits fresh two-year high after cigarette making company ITC Ltd jumped. ITC Ltd rose as much as 7.4%, its biggest gains since 23 May 2016, to head record closing price after analysts welcomed the government decision of not increasing tax rates for tobacco product. The stock gained for the fourth consecutive sessions and rose over 9% in this period. So far this year it rose 17%.
Also Read| ITC shares jump 7% with GST on cigarette seen as neutral
The goods and services tax (GST) council on Thursday gave its nod to the two remaining pieces of supporting legislation for implementing the landmark tax reform, paving the way for their introduction in Parliament and state legislatures. The council’s approval for the state GST and Union territory GST bills marks an important step in India’s journey towards creating a unified market, and is critical to meeting the deadline of 1 July for GST implementation.
In intraday trade, the Sensex gained as much as 0.87% or 238.77 points to 29,824.62, while Nifty gained as much as 0.7% or 64.7 points to 9,218.40. For this week, Sensex and Nifty gained nearly 2.6% each. The gains in the markets followed the landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh by the Bharatiya Janata Party and also signs that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates only gradually.
1.16pm: BSE Sensex trades higher by 62 points, or 0.21%, to 29,648, while the Nifty 50 rises 3 points, or 0.03%, to 9,157. Crisil Ltd shares fall 3.54% to trade at Rs1,900.
12.20pm: BSE Sensex trades higher by 70 points, or 0.24%, to 29,656, while the Nifty 50 falls 1 point, or 0.02%, to 9,152.
11.22am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 74 points, or 0.25%, to 29,660, while the Nifty 50 rises 3 points, or 0.03%, to 9,156.
11.15am: Shares of Banking stocks trade lower. Federal Bank shares fell 1.6%, Bank of Baroda 1.3%, ICICI Bank 1.3%, Punjab National Bank 1.3%, State Bank of India 1.2%, Yes Bank 1.2%.
11.05am: Telecom stocks trade lower. Idea Cellular Ltd shares fall 4% while Bharti Airtel Ltd fall 2%, Reliance Communications Ltd shares fall 2%.
10.50am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 108 points, or 0.36%, to 29,694, while the Nifty 50 rises 12 points, or 0.13%, to 9,165.
10.16am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 136 points, or 0.46%, to 29,722, while the Nifty 50 rises 22 points, or 0.24%, to 9,176.
10.12am: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up by 0.32%, while Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.34% in early trade. Shanghai Composite fell 0.17%. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended marginally lower by 0.07%.
10.02am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 156 points, or 0.53%, to 29,743, while the Nifty 50 rises 31 points, or 0.34%, to 9,185.
9.30am: ITC Ltd shares rise 3.9% to Rs279. The GST (goods and services tax) panel has said that the cess levied, in the case of cigarettes and chewing tobacco, could be either 290% or Rs4,170 per thousand sticks or a combination of both.
9.26am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 135 points, or 0.46%, to 29,721, while the Nifty 50 rises 18 points, or 0.20%, to 9,172.
9.25am: ABG Shipyard Ltd shares rise 5% to Rs22.40 after the company said few companies expressed interest buying assets of the company.
9.20am: Megasoft Ltd shares rise 8% to Rs21.75 after the company said the government of Bihar has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Megasoft to enhance IT services with cloud technologies.
9.15am: The rupee opened at 65.46 a dollar. At 9.15am, the home currency was trading at 65.53, down 0.18% from its previous close of 65.41.
9.10am: The 10-year bond yield was trading at 6.845%, compared to its Thursday’s close of 6.841%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
9.00am: Asian currencies were trading lower. Singapore dollar was down 0.14%, Thai baht 0.14%, Japanese yen 0.12%, China offshore 0.12%, Malaysian ringgit 0.08% and China renminbi 0.06%. However, Taiwan dollar was up 0.19% and South Korean won 0.06%.
With inputs from Ravindra Sonavane
