Stock markets advance for 2nd day after GST rate cut; Mahindra & Mahindra spurts nearly 6%

Mumbai: Stock markets rose for the second consecutive day on Thursday, with the benchmark BSE Sensex closing higher by 150 points after the GST rate cuts announced on commonly used personal items and daily essential products.

Paring most of its gains due to selling in index heavyweight Reliance Industries and Infosys, the 30-share Sensex settled 150.30 points or 0.19 per cent higher at 80,718.01. The barometer jumped 888.96 points or 1.10 per cent to 81,456.67 in the opening trade, but later slipped from the intra-day high 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 Goods and Services Tax (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. Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Trent, ITC and HDFC Bank were also among the gainers.

However, Maruti Suzuki India, Bharat Electronics, HCL Tech, NTPC, Power Grid, Infosys and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.

"Nifty opened on a strong note with a gap-up start, driven by optimism around the new GST rates, but profit-booking in the second half wiped out most of the early gains.

"The move triggered broad-based buying in auto, FMCG, and consumer durable stocks during early trade. However, profit-booking weighed on broader indices, dragging them down," Hariprasad K, Research Analyst and Founder - Livelong Wealth, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index settled in positive territory while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended lower.

Markets in Europe were trading higher.

US markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday.

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

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.08 per cent to $66.87 a barrel.

On Wednesday, the Sensex jumped 409.83 points or 0.51 per cent to settle at 80,567.71, and the Nifty climbed 135.45 points or 0.55 per cent to 24,715.05.