Nifty rose to its record closing high while Sensex gained over 100 points after the country moved a step closer to implementing a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) from July. Four bills related to GST, passed were by the lower house of parliament which would next be presented before the upper house. The new sales tax regime will subsume a slew of central and state levies, transforming a nation of more than 1.2 billion population into a single market.
Broader gains in the market were capped as caution prevailed due to expiration of March futures & options contracts for the month of March.
"Right now, I don't see a scenario in the market where a fall that would frighten you would happen. All the macro factors are conducive for the country," said Dharmesh Kant, head, retail research at Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd.
The Nifty closed at its all-time high level of 9,174, up 30 points from previous day's close and the Sensex advanced 116 points to settle at 29,647.
Logistics shares ended higher after the passage of the GST bills. Allcargo Logistics, Blue Dart, VRL Logistics and Container Corporation rose between 1.5 and 3.4 per cent each.
Financial shares extended a recent rally with the Nifty Bank also closing at record high of 21,621.
Adani Ports and SEZ was the top Nifty gainer, the stock closed 6 percent higher at Rs 339. HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, GAIL India and Reliance Industries also ended 1-2.6 percent higher.
Kotak Mahindra Bank rose as much as 1.7 percent after the private lender said it would focus on building stressed assets business and double its customer base.
On the other hand, Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, Coal India, Axis Bank, Tata Steel and Hindalco were among the laggards in the Nifty.
The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices and BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices rose 0.4 and 0.94 percent higher.
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