Equity benchmark indices opened higher on Thursday, as investors were optimistic following a record high GST collections in April and foreign fund inflows.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 204.88 points to 74,687.66, while the NSE Nifty gained 57.35 points to 22,662.20.
Major gainers from the Sensex basket included Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti, Wipro, and Titan were among the laggards.
The finance ministry reported that Goods and Services Tax collections grew 12.4 percent to a record high of Rs 2.10 lakh crore in April, thanks to strong economic momentum and increased domestic transactions and imports.
This marked the first time that GST collections have breached the Rs 2 lakh crore-mark for a month. “The domestic cues are strongly positive.
The GST collection for April setting a record of Rs 2.1 trillion indicates a booming economy,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,071.93 crores on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
“Positive factors include record-high GST revenue, FIIs and DIIs being net buyers, and WTI oil prices falling below USD 80 a barrel,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
The global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.53 percent to USD 83.88 a barrel. In Asian markets, Tokyo and Hong Kong were trading with gains, while Seoul and Shanghai quoted lower.
On the other hand, Wall Street ended on a mixed note on Wednesday. It is important to note that the domestic equity markets were closed on Wednesday, on account of Maharashtra Day.
Snapping its two-day winning run, the BSE benchmark declined 188.50 points or 0.25 percent to settle at 74,482.78 on Tuesday. The NSE Nifty dipped 38.55 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 22,604.85.