Market off day's high, Nifty slips below 9200-mark; midcaps trade in red

BSE FMCG index surged 3% after ITC rose over 7% after GST Council capped cess on tobacco

Benchmark indices pared gains during the afternoon trade on profit booking after the Nifty 50 index rose as much as 0.7% to over 9,200-mark.
 
The index hit an all-time high after the GST council yesterday cleared five draft bills, setting the stage for implementing the landmark tax reform by July 01. These will later be submitted to the parliament and state assemblies for approval.
 
Market sentiment was also bolstered as PM Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the key state elections in Uttar Pradesh, and after the US Federal Reserve stuck to its planned tightening pace this year.

 

At 1:34 pm, the Sensex was trading at 29,677, up 91 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,165, up 12 points.
 
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices underperformed the frontline indices in the afternoon trade by rising 0.14% and 0.07%, respectively.
 
The Nifty has gained 2.77% so far this week, while the Sensex has climbed 2.72%, in what could be its highest weekly gain since the end of January.
 
Meanwhile, the rupee also eased after hitting a 17-month high on Thursday, trading at 65.5575/5600 from its close of 65.42.

 
The BSE FMCG index surged 3% after cigarette maker ITC rose over 7% after the GST Council capped the cess on tobacco and cigarettes at 290% or Rs 4,170 per 1,000 cigarette sticks.
 
Other cigarette stocks such as Godfrey Phillips, VST Industries and Golden Tobacco also rallied up to 5% on the BSE.
 
Capital goods, Auto, Bankex, telecom indices were trading in red during the afternoon deal. Bharti Airtel, SBI, L&T and Tata Motors were the biggest laggards on BSE Sensex.
 
Shares of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) advanced as much as 7% at intra-day after reports that a parliamentary panel has suggested merger of state-run telecom firms BSNL and MTNL for their long-term survival.

 
Globally, Asian stocks advanced on Friday and looked set for their best week since July, while the dollar extended a slide that began after the Federal Reserve indicated it was unlikely to speed up monetary tightening.
 
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3% and was on track to end the week with a 3.5% gain, its biggest increase since the week ended July 15.
 
Japan's Nikkei closed down 0.4%, ending the week with a 0.4% loss.
 
Markets are also keeping an eye on the Group of 20 finance leaders' meeting in Germany this weekend, where topics including protectionism, exchange rates and reforms to boost economic growth are expected to be on the agenda.