Sensex settles with gain of almost 1 per cent at 41,626.64

Indian equity indices registered a healthy performance in Thursday's trading session. BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty settled for the day at 41,626.64 and 12,282.95, up by 0.78 per cent and 0.82 per cent, respectively. This was led by the widespread buying by participants amid mostly positive trade in other Asian equities.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collection of more than Rs 1 lakh crore mark for the second month in a row fueled further confidence amongst investors. Buying got intensified during the second half of the day, taking support from a private business survey. India's factory activity expanded at its fastest pace in seven months in December, as a jump in new orders prompted companies to ramp up production. Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index rose to 52.7 in the final month of 2019 from November's 51.2.

The broader indices ended in positive terrain, the BSE Mid cap index settled at 15,182.40, up by 1.22 per cent, while the Small cap index was at 13,984.76, up by 1.44 per cent. The Ultratech Cement was the biggest gainer from the BSE Sensex, with 4.27 per cent gain, followed by Tata Steel, Indusind Bank, and L&T, which registered a gain of  3.7 per cent, 3 per cent, and 2.7 per cent, respectively. The losers from Sensex were Bajaj Auto and TCS, down by 0.9 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.

According to the Commerce and Industry Ministry’s latest data, foreign direct investment (FDI) into India grew by 15 per cent to US$26 billion during the first half of FY20 as compared to US$22.66 billion during April-September of FY19, despite a slowdown in the global economy.