Sensex rises on cabinet nod for GST bill

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Thursday for a second consecutive day after the cabinet approved a bill on the goods and services tax that incorporates recommendations from a parliamentary panel, and after the Federal Reserve meeting ended with no major surprises.

The cabinet approval raised some hopes for parliamentary approval, analysts said, thought the fate of the bill remains uncertain.

Investors were also relieved after the Fed's statement was largely in line with expectations, still leaving the door open for a possible interest rate hike in September.

"One is we are seeing the possibility of the clearance of GST and the second part is the Fed has given reasons why it won't be in a hurry to increase the rate of interest," Deven Choksey, managing director, KR Choksey Securities.

 

The Sensex was up 0.67 percent, while the Nifty gained 0.65 percent.

Hopes on the GST bill boosted logistics stocks, with Gati Ltd shares up 6.4 percent and Gateway Distriparks Ltd up 3.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Cipla rose 3.4 percent after its partner Sandoz received an approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to launch a generic version of asthma drug Pulmicort Respule. The FDA approval gives Sandox 180 days of marketing exclusivity.

ITC gained 2.7 percent after reporting a 4 percent increase in quarterly profit.

Bank of Baroda surged 9.3 percent after India's second-biggest state-run lender by assets reported a smaller-than-expected 23 percent fall in quarterly net profit.

(Reporting by Karen Rebelo; Editing by Anand Basu)