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The Sensex and Nifty pared their gains to close slightly higher on Friday, with consumer goods stocks rallying after the Goods and Services Tax council cleared all pending draft Bills, paving the way for a faster rollout of the national sales tax.
The broader NSE index ended up 6.35 points or 0.07 per cent at 9,160.05 after earlier rising as much as 0.7 per cent to a fresh record high of 9,218.40. It rose 2.5 per cent on the week.
The benchmark BSE index closed 63.14 points or 0.21 per cent higher at 29,648.99, after earlier hitting its highest since March 4, 2015.
Both indexes rose 2.5 per cent on the week, their biggest weekly gain since end-January and the seventh weekly rise in eight.
Among BSE sectoral indices, FMCG index was up 2.41 per cent, realty 0.78 per cent, IT 0.71 per cent and TECk 0.1 per cent. On the other hand, PSU index was down 0.71 per cent, capital goods 0.47 per cent, banking and auto 0.46 per cent each.
Top five Sensex gainers were ITC (+4.85%), Infosys (+1.12%), Wipro (+0.89%), Maruti (+0.7%) and Axis Bank (+0.66%), while the major losers were Bharti Airtel (-3.73%), State Bank of India (-1.74%), M&M (-1.37%), ICICI Bank (-1.3%) and L&T (-1.12%).
Early trade
The Nifty 50 index rose as much as 0.7 per cent to a record high as the shares of consumer goods rallied after the country's Goods and Services Tax council cleared all draft Bills, although the gains were curbed by profit-taking.
The council, composed of federal and state ministers on Thursday, had cleared five draft Bills linked to the GST, which will create a national sales tax. It will be submitted to Parliament and state assemblies for approval.
Analysts said GST would benefit fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and transportation companies through a one-size-fits-all national sales tax, which would mean these firms will no longer have to meet tax requirements of different states.
Market sentiment has been bolstered as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party won the key state elections in Uttar Pradesh, and after the US Federal Reserve stuck to its planned tightening pace this year.
“The implementation of GST will benefit FMCG and logistics companies,” said Mahantesh Marilinga, senior research analyst, Finquest Securities.
“The rally in the market is expected to continue until the fourth-quarter results are out.”
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