Markets rise for 2nd day after GST rate cut, M&M soars nearly 6%

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty pared most of the early gains to settle marginally higher on Thursday as profit taking in index heavyweight Reliance Industries and Infosys took away the sheen of the GST rate cuts announced on commonly used personal items and daily essential products.

Shedding 738 points from the day’s high, the 30-share Sensex finally settled 150.30 points or 0.19 per cent higher at 80,718.01. As many as 19 of its shares closed in red while 11 settled higher.

The barometer jumped 888.96 points or 1.10 per cent to a high of 81,456.67 in the opening trade as the GST Council approved a complete overhaul of the tangled Goods and Services Tax regime. However, stock markets trimmed gains later due to profit-taking in blue-chips.

The 50-share NSE Nifty ended marginally higher by 19.25 points or 0.08 per cent at 24,734.30 after surging 265.7 points or 1.07 per cent to 24,980.75 in opening trade.

Common use items from roti/paratha to hair oil, ice creams and TVs will cost less, while tax incidence on personal health and life insurance will be brought down to nil after the all-powerful GST Council on Wednesday approved a complete overhaul of the tangled GST regime. The GST Council approved limiting slabs to 5 per cent and 18 per cent, effective from September 22, the first day of Navaratri.

Among the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra jumped the most by 5.96 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Trent, ITC and HDFC Bank. However, Maruti Suzuki India, Bharat Electronics, HCL Tech, NTPC, Power Grid, Infosys and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.

The BSE smallcap and midcap indices ended 0.60 per cent lower each.

Among BSE sectoral indices, auto climbed 0.69 per cent, FMCG (0.31 per cent), consumer discretionary (0.24 per cent) and financial services (0.15 per cent). Utilities dropped 1.24 per cent, power (1.05 per cent), oil & gas (1.05 per cent), BSE Focused IT (0.93 per cent), IT (0.86 per cent), realty (0.79 per cent) and tech (0.70 per cent).

As many as 2,325 stocks declined while 1,807 advanced and 148 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The rupee fell 10 paise to close at 88.12 against the US dollar on Thursday amid sustained foreign fund outflows and a stronger greenback.

FIIs offloaded equities worth Rs 1,666.46 crore on Wednesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors bought stocks worth Rs 2,495.33 crore, according to exchange data.