Profit booking pares gains on Dalal St

Mumbai: BSE benchmark index Sensex ended 260 points higher on Friday amid optimism surrounding a potential India-US trade deal, record high GST collection in April, and continuous foreign fund inflows. Moreover, a firm trend in global markets also added to the optimism in equities.

After a sharp rally in intra-day trade the 30-share BSE benchmark gauge later trimmed most of the gains and settled 259.75 points or 0.32 per cent higher at 80,501.99. During the day, the benchmark jumped 935.69 points or 1.16 per cent to 81,177.93. In a volatile trade, the NSE Nifty eked out a marginal gain of 12.50 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at 24,346.70.

“Markets were extremely volatile in the first half and gyrated nearly 1,000 points before turning range-bound to end higher due to selective buying in banking and IT stocks. After the recent upsurge, investors resorted to profit-taking with broader markets ending weak. Due to the fragile global environment amid geopolitical tensions and the ongoing tariff war, investors are not betting big on equities,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior V-P (research), Mehta Equities Ltd. From the Sensex firms, Adani Ports jumped over 4 per cent after the firm reported a 50 per cent jump in its March quarter net profit and issued a higher year-on-year revenue growth forecast for the current fiscal, citing strong growth in port volumes and a robust rise in the logistics business. Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Maruti, Tata Motors, ITC, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries were also among the gainers.

Nestle, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Power Grid and Titan were among the laggards. Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose 12.6 per cent YoY to an all-time high of about Rs 2.37 lakh crore in April, which the government said shows the resilience of the Indian economy and the effectiveness of cooperative federalism.