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.

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