Markets recouped intra-day losses to end marginally higher on reports that the Goods and Services Tax constitutional amendment bill has been listed for discussion in the Rajya Sabha next week.
The S&P BSE Sensex rose 93 points to end at 27,803 and the Nifty50 climbed 31 points to close at 8,541.
In the broader market, both the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices, gained nearly 1% performed better than the front-liners.
Media reports suggesting that the Goods and Services Tax constitutional amendment bill has been listed for discussion in the Rajya Sabha next week boosted investors’ sentiment.
In overseas stocks markets, European stocks edged lower after European Central Bank held rates unchanged after a monetary policy review yesterday.
ECB emphasized that it intends to keep rates at current or lower levels for an extended period and that its program of monthly bond buys would run until at least March 2017, and possibly beyond.
Japanese stocks led losses for Asian equities after comments by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda dashed hopes for so-called helicopter money or ultra-aggressive easing measures from the Japanese central bank. The Nikkei 225 Average settled 1.1% lower.
Back home, government's Rs 23,000-crore equity infusion will provide some respite to the public sector banks, but their capital needs are significantly higher than the budgeted amount, Moody's Investors Service has said.
Among key stocks, Power Grid Corporation of India rose almost 3% after the company's board of directors in a meeting held on 20 July 2016 accorded approval for eleven investment proposals aggregating Rs 2,735 crore.
L&T firmed up after the stock witnessed profit taking as its IT arm L&T Infotech evoked a poor response from investors post listing on Thursday.
Other notable gainers were Tata Motors, NTPC, GAIL, HDFC and Reliance Inds.
Axis Bank slipped marginally ahead of its first quarter earnings later today. Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, HUL, SBI and Infosys slipped between 1%-1.4%.
ITC slipped 0.5%. Despite weak demand in the fast-moving consumer goods sector and the ongoing stress in the cigarette industry, cigarette-to-hotels major ITC posted an increase of 10.1% in its standalone net profit at Rs 2,385 crore for the quarter ended June.
Shares of brokerage firms rallied by upto 20% on the BSE on expectation of better than expected earnings for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 (Q1FY17).
Emkay Global Financial Services, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, IIFL Holdings, JM Financial, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, Religare Enterprises and Edelweiss Financial Services were up 3%- 20%.
Q1 RESULTS IMPACT
Biocon, Bharat Financial Inclusion, Motilal Oswal Financial Services and Lakshmi Vilas Bank were among 31 stocks from the S&P BSE 500 & S&P BSE Allcap index hitting their respective 52-week highs after reporting robust earnings for the first quarter ended June 30, 2016 (Q1FY17).
Rane Brake Lining soared 11%, extending its Thursday’s over 15% rally on the BSE, after the company's net profit more than doubled to Rs 10.49 crore in June 2016 quarter (Q1FY17), on the back of strong operational performance.
Biocon surged 17% after the company reported 35% year-on-year (YoY) jump in its consolidated net profit of Rs 167 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2016 (Q1FY17).
Cairn India rose 9% after consolidated net profit fell 28.27% to Rs 359.55 crore on 21.57% decline in total income to Rs 2288.71 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015.
Bharat Financial Inclusion (formerly SKS Microfinance) rallied 10%, also touched its fresh 52-week high on the BSE, after the company reported nearly four-fold jump in net profit at Rs 236 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 (Q1FY17).
Chemfab Alkalis was locked at 10% upper circuit at Rs 208 after net profit surged 294.3% to Rs 6.19 crore on 32.6% growth in net sales to Rs 30.36 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015.
Vijaya Bank gained 3% after the public sectors bank reported 13.4% increase in net profit at Rs 161.66 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2016-17.
