Key equity index Sensex hit a new lifetime high of 36,750 on Monday on the back of the GST Council’s move to lower the tax rates on a number of products.
FMCG stocks such as HUL, ITC and Asian Paints were among the top performers on Monday even as other Asian markets showed mixed trends. Vedanta, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel and Maruti Suzuki, too, witnessed decent gains, helping the index gain momentum.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 222 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 36,718. The Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained 74 points, or 0.68 per cent, to close at 11,084.
The GST Council on Saturday cut the rates on over 100 items including footwear, refrigerators, washing machines and small screen TVs, while granting the widely demanded exemption on sanitary napkins. The revised tax rates will come into effect on July 27.
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“Nifty managed to close above the crucial resistance of 11,078, which acted as a bearish reversal twice in the recent past,” said VK Sharma, Head, Private Client Group & Capital Market Strategy, HDFC Securities.
“Positive market breadth, the performance of mid-cap and small-cap indices and bullish technical development on the benchmark indices indicate the higher probability of a bullish momentum rising from the current levels,” Sharma said.
“Beaten-down small- and mid-cap stocks seem to have bottomed out for the short term and a pull-back rally is all set to emerge from here. The level of 10,900 will continue to remain a strong support in the Nifty, while the next resistance for the same is placed at 11,395,” he added.
Banking gains
Banking stocks such as ICICI Bank, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra rose after the lenders entered into a pact with financial institutions to fast-track the resolution of stressed assets of ₹50 crore or more that are under consortium lending.
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