Sensex closes above 59K mark, Vodafone spurts 26 pc amid telecom reforms announcement

Mumbai, Sep 16: Key equity indicators scaled fresh highs on Thursday as several government incentives to industries boosted investor morale.

Market analysts said yesterday’s package for telecom industry and PLI scheme for autos indicate the government is on a fast-forward mode as far as reforms are concerned.

At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 418 points or 0.71 per cent at 59,141 while the Nifty 50 gained by 110 points or 0.63 per cent to 17,630.

Except for Nifty IT and metal which dipped by 0.6 per cent each, all sectoral indices were in the green with Nifty PSU bank ticking up by 5.4 per cent, private bank by 2.6 per cent and FMCG by 1.2 per cent.

Among stocks, Vodafone Idea surged by 26 per cent after the government announced a relief package for the sector.

IndusInd Bank advanced by 7.3 per cent to Rs 1,131 per share, Kotak Mahindra Bank by 1.8 per cent, ICICI Bank by 1.7 per cent and Axis Bank by 1.5 per cent.

State Bank of India rose by 4.7 per cent to close at Rs 465 per share while index heavyweight surged 1.9 per cent to Rs 2,424.

FMCG major ITC jumped by 6.6 per cent to close at Rs 230.30. But among those which lost were Grasim, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro.

Meanwhile, Asian shares gave up early gains to fall again on Thursday, weighed by declines in China and Hong Kong.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.45 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.62 per cent on profit booking after the recent rally.

Hong Kong benchmark fell 1.46 per cent with property names continuing to drag. South Korean stocks dipped 0.74 per cent to end a four-day rally as tech heavyweights slid.