GST passage cheers stock market; Sensex, Nifty post biggest gains in almost 4 weeks

New Delhi: Strong global markets spurred by Bank of England's liquidity easing sent Indian stocks soaring as the Sensex rallied 364 points to close above 28,000, aided by auto, oil and financials.

Global indices were pumped up by BoE's decision to cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.25 percent, its first reduction since 2009, and also start a fresh round of quantitative easing that had been on pause since 2012.

Because of today's massive gains, domestic equities managed to end in the positive territory, with the Sensex and the Nifty advancing 26.49 points, or 0.09 percent, and 44.65 points, or 0.51 percent, respectively.

Trading in the green throughout the day, the benchmark BSE Sensex added 363.98 points, or 1.31 percent, to end at 28,078.35 after shuttling between 28,110.37 and 27,795.74. It had gained 16.86 points in yesterday's choppy session.

This is the biggest single-session gain since July 11 when it had gained 499.79 points.

Sentiment got a shot in the arm after the long-stalled indirect tax reform Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill passed the Rajya Sabha muster on Wednesday and is likely to be tabled in the Lok Sabha on August 8.

There was more good news as Moody's Investors Service yesterday said the GST implementation will be positive for the country's economic growth without any significant impact on inflation.

The broader NSE Nifty retook the crucial 8,600-mark and hit a high of 8,689.40 before settling up by 132.05 points, or 1.54 percent, at 8,683.15.

"It was a positive day on the bourses as the passage of the GST Bill got a thumbs-up from a global credit rating agency and a fresh round of liquidity easing in the United Kingdom lifted sentiment in global stock markets," said Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager, Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

Hero MotoCorp took the top slot by surging 5.02 percent while Bajaj Auto climbed 4.38 percent. Other major gainers were Axis Bank, Tata Motors, SBI, M&M, L&T and Adani Ports.

A total of 23 scrips out of the 30-share Sensex pack ended higher.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, auto rose the most by 3.14 percent followed by oil and gas 2.74 percent, metal 2.56 percent, capital goods 2.34 percent, PSU 2.17 percent, banking 2.05 percent and realty 2.04 percent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net bought shares worth Rs 559.49 crore yesterday, showed provisional data.

Most Asian markets remained firm, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng rising 1.44 percent. Japan's Nikkei ended steady.

European indices advanced in early session after BoE's announcement of the rate cut and a larger than expected stimulus package while investors waited for release of key US non-farm payroll data.

London's FTSE was up 0.40 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 0.20 percent and Paris CAC gained 0.4 percent.

Broader markets added it up too, with the mid-cap and small-cap indices firming up 1.69 percent and 1.47 percent, respectively, on increased buying by investors.

Sun Pharma, however, emerged as the top loser with a fall

of 0.79 percent, followed by Power Grid (0.67 percent).

IT majors Wipro, Infosys and TCS saw profit booking and fell by up to 0.65 percent. The IT index slumped 0.15 percent.

"Barring IT, all other sectoral indices on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded in the green, with auto, metals and banking registering gains of over 2 percent," added Devalkar.

The market breadth remained positive as 1,841 stocks ended higher and 894 declined while 171 ruled unchanged.

Total turnover firmed up to Rs 3,687.67 crore, from Rs 3,167.03 crore yesterday.