GST Bill hopes push up markets

Stocks climbed, with the benchmark gauge completing a second weekly advance, amid optimism the government will push its proposal for a national sales tax through a parliamentary session that began Thursday. State Bank of India and ICICI Bank helped a gauge of lenders after its steepest jump in seven weeks.

Hindalco Industries, an aluminum producer, was the biggest advancer on the S&P BSE Sensex after an eastern Indian state said it may soon allow the company to resume mining bauxite. Gati extended the week's rally to 16 per cent, pacing gains among logistics firms amid optimism the unified tax bill will be cleared by lawmakers.

The S&P BSE Sensex added 0.7 per cent to 26,128.2. The gauge climbed as much as 0.9 per cent intraday on report that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited leaders of the main opposition Congress Party to discuss a compromise on passing a national sales tax, a proposal that's been repeatedly blocked by opponents. The bill is his biggest move yet to push through one of India's most important economic reforms since the 1990s.

The optimism on the GST bill "has built up over the last few days," Prasun Gajri, chief investment officer at HDFC Standard Life Insurance, said in an interview to Bloomberg TV India on Friday. "The market's expectations from the parliamentary session are pretty low. So, if anything positive come out then that could be the trigger for the markets."

State Bank surged three per cent to its highest level since October 26. ICICI Bank climbed 2.3 per cent to advance a third day this week, while Bank of Baroda soared 5.4 per cent, the most since August 27. Axis Bank added 1.2 per cent to pare this year's loss to six per cent.