Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) shares hit a new 52-week high of Rs 1,287 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Friday even as benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were trading in the red. The RIL stock later shed gains and was trading at Rs 1,268 at around 11.40 am; brokerage CLSA has raised the target price for the stock to Rs 1,500 in a note, reported the Business Today.
RIL share price has rallied sharply in the past three months, from Rs 994 on December 5, 2016 to a new high of Rs 1,287, marking a gain of 29.4 percent. The previous 52-week high was Rs 1,256.50 scaled on February 27, 2017.
The 30-scrip BSE Sensex was down 84 points to 28,756 while the NSE Nifty was trading at 8,872, down 28 points. Top Sensex losers were HDFC, Asian Paints and ITC.
In other corporate news, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council decided to peg the peak GST rate at 40 percent to brace for any increase in the rate after the proposed cess is removed. The move does not impact the four tax slabs — 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent.
The necessary amendment will be made in the draft GST Bill when the legislation is debated by the Parliament during the second half of the Budget Session that commences on March 9.
The trend in Asian stock markets was weak on Friday, reflecting on Indian bourses. "After a weak start, Asian markets were trading lower today as markets took a breather in the U.S. & Europe on Thursday. Post weakness in the Unites States, the Japanese markets today opened almost 0.10 percent lower. The weakness in global markets is very much likely to give domestic markets a lacklustre start as indicated by the SGX Nifty which is trading 0.33 percent down in red," Geojit BNP Paribas said in a note.
Shares of EPC company Larsen & Toubro (L&T) remained almost flat at Rs 1,464 in response to the Karnataka government scrapping the Rs 1,791-crore steel flyover ( from Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal) project. The company had won the project last October and was awarded the letter of acceptance (LOA).
On Thursday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers of Indian equities worth Rs 123 crore, according to provisional data released by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
The 10-year G-Sec bond ended with a yield of 6.845 percent and the Indian rupee closd at 66.71 to the US dollar on Thursday.
