India's broader NSE index breached the 10,900 mark for the first time on Friday, with financial stocks leading the gains, as investors remained bullish after the government decided to cut tax rates on certain products and services. The NSE index closed up 0.72 percent at 10,894.70 and posted a weekly gain of 2 percent. The benchmark BSE index ended 0.71 percent higher at 35,511.58, and rose 2.67 percent this week.
Both indexes posted their seventh consecutive weekly gain and hit record closing highs for the third time this week. The rates have been lowered after revenues dipped following the rollout of a landmark nationwide sales tax from July. Taxes on goods including used motor vehicles and precious stones, and services relating to mining and oil exploration, are among those that will be reduced from January 25.
"Markets were expecting some rationalisation in GST rates. Now, any good news with respect to filing taxes will definitely bring cheer to the market," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of research at SMC Global Securities. The Nifty PSU bank index gained as much as 2.3 percent, with State Bank of India and Canara Bank Ltd rising more than 2 percent each. HDFC Bank Ltd and Reliance Industries Ltd were each up more than 1 percent ahead of third-quarter results later in the day.
Biocon Ltd rose as much as 4.5 percent after it announced a tie-up with Sandoz. Cyient Ltd climbed as much as 7.1 percent after its third-quarter consolidated revenue rose. Bharti Airtel Ltd slipped as much as 2.3 percent after it posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly net profit. Asia stocks ex-Japan, meanwhile, gained 0.5 percent to hit a record high.
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