Sensex, Nifty near day's high; RIL, L&T up 2%

Benchmark share indices extended gains after the first hour of trade led by index heavyweights and private banking majors.

At 10:45AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 339 points at 27,466 and the 50-share Nifty was up 95 points at 8,254.

The Indian rupee was trading marginally higher at Rs 63.03 compared to the previous close of Rs 63.11 tracking gains in the stock markets.

After receiving cabinet approval, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill is likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors continued sold equities worth Rs 874.89 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Asian markets have extended gains from yesterday as the boost generated by US Fed's reiteration to maintain its stance on key-interest rates continues to propel global equity markets. Japanese Nikkei has gained around 2% ahead of the Bank of Japan policy meeting scheduled to be held on Friday. Straits Times, Hang Seng were up over 1% each while Shanghai Composite was down 0.5%.

BSE Capital Goods index was the top gainer up 2% followed by Auto, Metal, IT, Oil and Gas indices.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was up over 2%.

In the banking pack, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and SBI were up 0.5-2% each.

L&T was up over 2% as the company has completed the definitive investment agreement with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for investment of Rs 2,000 crore in the engineering firm. BHEL was up 2.7%.

IT shares firmed up on the back of robust first quarter earnings from Accenture. The global IT major has upped its revenue growth guidance for FY15. Infosys, TCS and Wipro were up over 1% each.

The Narendra Modi government’s plan to introduce the goods and services tax (GST) will allow the automobiles, logistics and entertainment sectors to reap a rich dividend from the rollout targeted for next year. Tata Motors, M&M, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti Suzuki were up 1.5-2.5% each.

Bharti Airtel was the top Sensex loser down 1.6%.

Among other shares, Monte Carlo Fashions has listed at Rs 584, a 9% discount against its issue price of Rs 645 on National Stock Exchange (NSE). Ludhiana-based woollen and cotton apparel manufacturer Monte Carlo Fashions has raised Rs 350 crore through Initial Public Offer by issuing 5.4 million shares to public shareholders.

Punj Lloyd has surged 9% to Rs 38.65 on BSE after the company said it received an approval from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for manufacture of defence items.

Shares in J K Tyre and Industries has soared 15% to Rs 160, extending its previous day’s rally, after the stock turned ex-stock split on Thursday.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 1.3-1.6% each.

Market breadth was strong with 1,578 gainers and 571 losers on the BSE.