Markets end the day higher ahead of March F&O expiry; Nifty Bank up 0.8%

Benchmark indices settled the day higher with the Nifty settling near 9,150- mark led by banking stocks. While strong foreign investments lifted the sentiment, broader gains were capped ahead of March F&O series expiry.
 
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also tabled GST bills in Lok Sabha for consideration today. Speaking in the Lower House, the FM said GST will ensure free movement of goods across the country. He also added that cess on luxury, sin goods will be used for GST compensation.
 
The S&P BSE Sensex settled the day at 29,531, up 122 points, while the broader Nifty50 ended at 9,143, up 43 points.

 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap gained 0.05%, while the S&P BSE Smallcap added 0.2%.The market breadth remained narrow as 1,275 shares advanced against a decline of 1,019 shares, while 168 shares were unchanged.
 
Meanwhile, the rupee hit its strongest level against the dollar in nearly 18 months. Foreign investors have bought a net $6.91 billion in debt and equities so far this month on hopes of an improving economy.
 
Sectors and Stocks
 
Auto stocks fell after Supreme Court today banned the sale of BS-III vehicles from April 1. Nifty Auto fell nearly 1% at intra-day after the decision, ending 0.6% down. HeroMoto Corp was hit the most, down nearly 4% followed by Ashok Leyland, Eicher Motors and Tata Motors.

 
Banking stocks were in focus with the Nifty Bank index hitting a record high level of 21,384. The rally in the index was helped by surge in State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank. Also, the Nifty PSU bank has gained the most in this week.
 
Bharti Infratel rose as much as 7% at intra-day to settle 5.6% higher after Bharti Airtel completed a transfer of 11.32% stake in its telecom tower unit to Nettle Infra Investments. Bharti Airtel also gained nearly 1.5%.
 
Among other gainers, Vadilal Industries touched a record high of Rs 968, up over 5% post strong growth outlook for the summer. The stock price has already rallied nearly 36% this month. The stock ended over 2.5% higher.

 
L&T also gained 1.5% intraday after the company’s construction arm won an order worth Rs 2,400 crore.
                                                                                      
SBI, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and HUL were top gainers on BSE Sensex, while HeroMoto, Sun Pharma, Maruti and Tata Motors were the top losers.
 
Global Markets
 
European shares rose on Wednesday, following Wall Street's late surge, while sterling was the biggest loser on major currency markets ahead of the formal triggering of Britain's exit process from the European Union later in the day.
 
In stocks the leading index of 300 European shares was up 0.2% at 1,490 points and Germany's DAX was up 0.6%, mostly driven by broker upgrades and results.

 
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.2% and back toward recent 21-month peaks, while Japan's Nikkei added 0.1%.
 
The Dow Jones snapped an eight-day losing streak on Tuesday, its longest run of losses since 2011, in part as a survey showed consumer confidence surged to a more than 16-year high.