Nifty ends above 10,300; SBI up 6% post Q2; GST council cuts rates
The benchmark indices ended positive on Friday after index heavyweight SBI rallied 6% post its September quarter numbers. Gains were, however, capped as refiners such as Reliance Industries tumbled after oil prices gained overnight and Tata Motors slipped after the auto major said its British unit faced intensifying competition.
Investors also took cues from the Goods & Services Tax (GST) Council meeting. The Council decided to trim the 28% slab to just 50 items, as against 227 items currently. High-end items, including automobiles, washing machine, refrigerator, sin goods like paan masala and cigar are among these 50 items. This is the biggest reduction seen since the GST implementation on July 1.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 33,314, up 63 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 10,321, up 12 points.
About 1,480 shares declined against 1,197 advancing shares on the BSE.
State Bank of India’s second quarter standalone profit missed analyst expectations, falling 37 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,581.55 crore from Rs 2,538.32 crore crore. Net interest income grew by 27.3 percent to Rs 18,585.9 crore from Rs 14,600.2 crore YoY, which was slightly higher than CNBC-TV18 poll estimates of Rs 19,088.7 crore. Gross NPAs were lower at 9.83 percent against 9.97 percent QoQ.
Public sector lender Bank of India’s second quarter earnings beat analyst expectations, and even the asset quality improved, but the loan growth was tepid. Profit for the quarter stood at Rs 179.1 crore, which was higher compared with Rs 126.8 crore in year-ago despite lower other income and operating income. It was driven by net interest income, lower provisions and improvement in asset quality. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 6.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,908 crore for quarter ended September 2017, with slow loan growth (0.3 percent YoY).
Mahindra & Mahindra reported a 25 per cent jump in quarterly profit, beating street estimates. Net profit for the quarter ended September 30 rose to Rs 1,332 crore ($204.73 million) from Rs 1,067 crore in the year-ago quarter. The Board approved a 1:1 bonus issue.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,260, up 3.5% on the BSE after the company said its construction arm has won orders worth Rs 4,023 crore across various business segments.
Just Dial surged 20% to Rs 551 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in early morning trade after the media report suggested that the US internet giant Google, a subsidiary of parent Alphabet, is in talks with the company to acquire its business.
