Nifty toched 5000 after 16 months

The National Stock Exchange(NSE) Nifty closed above the 5,000 mark for the 1^st time in 16 months on Thursday after 2nd-quarter advance corporation and personal income tax collections registered positive growth.

Advance corporation tax and personal income tax collections grew 14.7 % and 1.7 %, respectively, in the quarter ended Sep 15, as against the fall of 3.7 % and 44 %, respectively, in the 1st quarter. The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) plan to simplify norms for foreign portfolio investments improved the sentiment. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index, or Sensex, touched an intra-day high of 16,943.49, up 202.19 points. It closed at 16,886.43, up 145.13 points.

The Nifty closed above the psychological mark of 5,000 for the first time since May 22, 2008. The index rose 44.15 points on Thursday and closed at 5,020.20.

Financial sector stocks gained after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee hinted that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would keep policy rates low. Mukherjee had said in Bangalore on Saturday that India’s equity index was moving “steadily” and the authorities would avoid disturbing the pattern. The country’s biggest housing loan provider, HDFC, surged 5.30 per cent, SBI (1.41 %), HDFC Bank (1.50 %) and ICICI Bank (0.96 %).