Sensex, Nifty close on positive note led by metals and banks

Equity benchmark indices mirrored global sentiment and extended gains after making a positive start on Thursday.

The Union Cabinet's nod to Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code amendment and the government's approval to a partial credit guarantee scheme for government-owned banks to purchase high-rated pooled assets from financially sound non-banking finance companies boosted the investor sentiment.

The BSE S & P Sensex surged ahead by 169 points at 40,582 while the Nifty 50 ticked up by 62 points at 11,972.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive terrain except for Nifty IT which dropped by over 1 per cent.

Among stocks, metal majors shined brightly with Vedanta gaining by 3.7 per cent, Tata Steel by 3 per cent, Hindalco by 2.3 per cent and JSW Steel by 2.2 per cent. Automaker Tata Motors gained by 6.8 per cent to close at Rs 172.90 per share while Eicher Motors added gains of 1.9 per cent.

State Bank of India was up by 2.7 per cent and closed at Rs 321.45 per share while Yes Bank ended 5.8 per cent higher at Rs 45.35 apiece. The private sector lender said its board failed to reach a final decision on potential investors at a meeting on Tuesday, though it favoured a 500 million dollar offer from Citax Holdings Ltd.

However, IT majors were in the red with Infosys slipping by 2.6 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services by 1.9 per cent, HCL Technologies by 1.4 per cent, Tech Mahindra by 0.6 per cent and Wipro by 0.2 per cent.The other which lost were Hero MotoCorp, Vedanta, Hindalco and Bharti Airtel.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks rose to the highest in a month after the US Federal Reserve signalled that interest rates are likely to remain accommodative. But the upcoming election in Britain and a deadline for US-China trade talks kept most investors cautious.

The Fed kept interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting a day earlier. That helped Japan's Nikkei stock index to rise by 0.14 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng by 1.31 per cent and South Korea's Kospi by 1.51 per cent.

Reports said US President Donald Trump is expected to meet soon with top advisers to discuss tariffs on nearly 160 billion dollars of Chinese consumer goods that are scheduled to take effect on December 15.

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