Nifty ends at record high, Sensex rises 116 pts on GST push

Mumbai, Mar 30 (PTI) Benchmark Nifty closed at an all-timehigh of 9,173.75 while the Sensex rose for the third straightsession today on optimism surrounding the GST amid expiry ofderivatives contracts

Mumbai, Mar 30 (PTI) Benchmark Nifty closed at an all-time

high of 9,173.75 while the Sensex rose for the third straight

session today on optimism surrounding the GST amid expiry of

derivatives contracts.

The Lok Sabha yesterday cleared four GST legislations to

pave the way for the rollout of the new indirect tax regime

from July 1, boosting market sentiment.

Sustained foreign capital inflows and covering up of short

positions on the last trading session of March series

derivatives contracts supported the momentum, traders said.

The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 29.95 points, or

0.33 per cent to a record closing of 9,173.75 after hovering

between 9,183.15 and 9,136.35.

This is Nifty’s highest closing since March 17, when it

had ended at 9,160.05.

The 30-share Sensex, after touching the day’s high of

29,684.54, succumbed to profit-booking and hit a low of

29,521.65 before settling 115.99 points, or 0.39 per cent

higher at 29,647.42.

The gauge had gained 294.28 points in the previous two

sessions.

“Market sentiment got a boost after the Lok Sabha

yesterday passed four bills relating to the implementation of

the Goods and Services Tax (GST)…,” said Karthikraj

Lakshmanan, Senior Fund Manager Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual

Fund.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought

shares worth a net Rs 460.98 crore yesterday, as per

provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Logistics stocks saw increased buying after the GST

legislations were cleared by the Lok Sabha.

Shares of Arshiya Ltd, Allcargo Logistics, Transport Corp

of India, Blue Dart Express, Snowman and Container Corp of

India ended higher by up to 4.98 per cent.

Adani Ports was the top performer in the Sensex pack,

surging 5.77 per cent to Rs 338.85, followed by HDFC Bank

(2.51 per cent to Rs 1,463.75).

Other gainers included Bharti Airtel, GAIL, RIL, Wipro,

Cipla, SBI, HUL and L&T, gaining up to 1.67 per cent.

Auto stocks, including M&M, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki

and Ashok Leyland, recovered on value buying, a day after

recording steep losses following the Supreme Court’s decision

banning sale and registration of BS-III vehicles from April 1.

The broader markets too were in a better shape as

investors widened their bets, lifting the BSE small-cap index

by 0.95 per cent and mid-cap index by 0.39 per cent.

Sector-wise, realty gained the most by rising 2.17 per

cent, followed by consumer durables (1.38 per cent), bank

(0.82 per cent), capital goods (0.55 per cent) and power (0.37

per cent).

Market breadth turned positive as 1,739 stocks ended

higher, 984 declined, while 232 ruled unchanged.

The total turnover fell to Rs 4,606.56 crore from Rs

14,854.52 crore yesterday.

Globally, other Asian markets saw a lower trend, with

Japan’s Nikkei falling 0.80 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng

losing 0.37 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index shedding

0.96 per cent.

European stocks were slightly better in their early trade

with London’s FTSE rising 0.12 per cent, Paris CAC up 0.10 per

cent and Frankfurt gaining 0.11 per cent.

This is published unedited from the PTI feed.