Market ends at fresh high for 3rd day in a row; Nifty hits 10,900 for 1st time

Extending its record run for the third straight session, the benchmark indices settled at fresh closing highs, led by gains in banking stocks amid improved investor sentiment after the government decided to cut tax rates on certain products and services.

The rates have been lowered after revenues dipped following the rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July. Taxes on goods including used motor vehicles and precious stones, and services relating to mining and oil exploration, are among those that will be reduced from January 25.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,511, up 251.29 points, while the broader Nifty50 closed at 10,894, up 77.70 points. In intraday trade, the Sensex rallied as much as 282 points to hit its fresh high of 35260.29, while Nifty50 briefly surged above its crucial 10,900 in last leg of trade. 

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices rallied 0.7 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively. 

"Government’s decision to cut GST rate for few more items and a good start to earnings season added energy in the market. Market is anticipating a sea change in the earnings with a growth of 15-20% in PAT led by revamp in businesses and low base effect. Moreover, positive trend in global market and drop in crude prices influenced buying pattern," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The Nifty PSU Bank (up 2.2 per cent) was the leading sectoral gainer, followed by Nifty Bank (up 1.4 per cent) and Nifty Financial Services (up 1.1 per cent). 

Among individual stocks, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Adani Ports and Bajaj Finance were the top gainers on Nifty and rallied up to 4 per cent on the NSE. 

Reliance Industries gained over 1 per cent to Rs 929 ahead of its December quarter earnings scheduled for later in the day. Dhananjay Sinha, Head, Institutional Research at Emkay, said, "For RIL, we expect slight correction in GRM qoq to $11.7/bbl (v/s $12/bbl in Q2FY18). Petrochem margins overall is expected to remain stable while some volume uptick is expected due to ROGC ramping up. Our standalone net profit estimate for Q3FY18 stands at Rs 8,500 crore, up by 3% qoq."

Biocon rose as much as 4.5 per cent after it announced a tie-up with Sandoz.

Cyient climbed as much as 7.1 per cent after its third-quarter consolidated revenue rose.

Bharti Airtel slipped as much as 2.3 per cent after it posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly net profit.