Markets put best foot forward; GST timeline holds sway

The Sensex made a smart recovery of 255 points to close at a new peak of 31,312 today and the Nifty reclaimed the key 9,600 level, riding piggyback on GST headway and expectations of reforms by Sebi.
The markets saw a flurry of buying as investors sensed NPA resolution gaining traction after the Reserve Bank asked lenders to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against large defaulters.
Positive global cues emerging from other Asian markets that ended higher in tune with weekened record closing at the Wall Street propped up the markets here. A firm opening at European shares in a reaction to a strong victory for President Emmanual Macron's centrist party in French parliamentary elections, as Britain begins formal Brexit talks, buoyed trading sentiments here.

"The Market is back to the buoyed sentiment due to relaxation in return filing timeline to minimize the impact of transition to GST. On the other hand, RBI's insistence that the banks start the bankruptcy proceedings which will improve bank's asset quality & strengthen the balance sheet, led the index to climb by 1 per cent," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.
After a strong opening, the BSE 30-share index hit a high of 31,362.15, before closing at a new record high of 31,311.57, up 255.17 points, or 0.82 per cent, breaking its previous record closing of 31,309.49 on June 5.

The gauge had lost 99.51 points in the previous two sessions.

The 50-share Nifty too scaled a high of 9,673.30 before ending 69.50 points up, or 0.72 per cent, at 9,657.55. Market rundown by Mr. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd for your perusal.
Risk-on improved after the GST Council yesterday relaxed return filing rules for businesses for the first two months of the rollout of the new indirect tax regime even as it stuck to the July 1 launch date.
Buying activity gathered momentum after the Reserve Bank urged lenders to initiate bankcruptcy proceedings against large loan defaulters, brokers said

Banking stocks hogged the limelight led by SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank that extended gains, rising by up to 1.94 per cent.
Other gainers that also supported the key indices were Adani Ports (3.05 per cent), PowerGrid (1.67 per cent), L&T (1.59 per cent), Reliance Industries (1.53 per cent), TCS (1.44 per cent), Hero MotoCorp (1.39 per cent), ITC Ltd (1.35 per cent), Asian Paint (0.92 per cent), HDFC Ltd (0.89 per cent), Cipla (0.39 per cent) and Bajaj Auto (0.39 per cent).
Among the BSE sectors, metal jumped 1.89 per cent, followed by banking 0.96, capital goods 0.74 per cent, FMCG 0.72 per cent, oil&gas 0.45 per cent, power 0.43 per cent, PSU 0.29 per cent and auto 0.25 per cent.

Broader markets looked mixed as the mid-cap index rose 0.07 per cent, while small-cap index was down 0.08 per cent.
Shares of Dredging Corporation of India rose 2.08 per cent to Rs 705.30 on buzz of stake sale by the government in the company.
Meanwhile, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 890.91 crore on Friday, as per provisional data. However, the point of worry was foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) who sold stocks worth Rs 764.48 crore.
Globally, in the Asian region, key indices in Japan rose 0.62 per cent, Hong Kong was up 1.16 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.68 per cent, South Korea was up 0.38 per cent and Taiwan ended 0.92 per cent higher.

European indices were trading higher in their late morning session.