Mumbai: The early market thrust which propelled the Nifty beyond the 9,200 level for the first time today appeared to be slowing as both key indices came off their highs hit earlier in the day.
The prospects of a steady approach to US rate hike removed a big uncertainty, which gave markets enough to cheer for.
The GST Council yesterday cleared the two remaining pieces of supporting legislation, paving the way for their introduction in Parliament and state legislatures for the planned rollout of the indirect tax reform in July.
While the Sensex traded up by 110.05 points, or 0.37 per cent, at 29,695.90 at 1138 hours, the NSE Nifty came in below the 9,200 mark at 9,161.75, up 8.05 points, or 0.09 per cent.
The stocks have been spurred by buying in key FMCG heavyweight shares. Investors bet that favourable liquidity will continue to spur the rally in emerging markets.
The Sensex opened gap-up and hovered between 29,824.62 and 29,671.47.
The big gainers were ITC (7.33 per cent), along with Maruti, Lupin, Axis Bank and Hero MotoCorp.
Meanwhile, foreign funds bought a net Rs 1,360.10 crore yesterday, according to provisional data.
Asian stocks extended their previous climb. US stocks closed mostly lower yesterday as modest gains in financial stocks failed to offset declines in healthcare and utilities stocks.
PTI