GST rollout impact: Sensex rises above 31,000 at open as investors cheer reform, supports weak rupee

Mumbai: - The market hit a bright spot straightaway on Monday as the Sensex moved beyond 31,000 at the start, extending its weekend gains following the GST kick-off amid mixed Asian cues. However, growth of eight core sectors slowed to 3.6 percent in May dragged down by coal and fertilisers, which acted as a sobering factor. The 30-share index, after soaring 337 points to touch a high of 31,258.33 at the outset, let go off some gains and traded at 31,069.20, up 147.59 points, or 0.48 percent. FMCG, metal, consumer durables, realty and auto stocks went higher by up to 3.42 percent. The gauge had rallied 87.29 points in the previous two sessions. [caption id=“attachment_3770063” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] The NSE index Nifty recaptured the 9,600 level by surging 91.85 points, or 0.96 percent, to 9,612.75. Investors remained optimistic of the GST rollout on 1 July as they felt that the sweeping tax reform will give huge momentum to the country’s economy and tempt global businesses to invest here, traders said. ITC climbed 5.79 percent, Tata Steel 1.16 percent and M&M 1.10 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.08 percent and Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.13 percent in early trade on Monday. The Shanghai Composite, however, came down 0.17 percent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.29 percent higher on Friday. The rupee, meanwhile, weakened 10 paise to 64.68 against the dollar in early session as demand for the American unit from importers and banks picked up. Other than the demand surge, the dollar stayed ahead of the curve against a few currencies overseas that pushed down the rupee. It was domestic equities with a higher start that came to the rescue and limited the rupee’s losses, forex dealers said. On Friday, the rupee had staged a mild recovery by gaining 5 paise to close at 64.58 against the dollar in a cautious trade.