Strength in the stock market; Sensex rose 200 points, Nifty close to 25000

Return of strength in the US stock market reflected positivity in the Indian stock market and on Tuesday also, the major benchmark indices were seen trading in the green, whereas in early trade, the Sensex rose by 200 points while the Nifty reached close to 25000. However, after the rise in early trade, selling was seen in the Sensex and Nifty.

The top gainers in the Nifty were Power Grid, Divi's Lab, Bharti Airtel, and Apollo Hospitals, each rising 1-2 per cent. Insurance stocks, SBI Life, HDFC Life and Star Health turned red as they fell nearly 2% each after GST Council decided not to immediately cut GST on insurance premiums but instead set up a new GoM to review the rates.

Shares of snack manufacturers like Bikaji Foods rose as much as 9 per cent each after GST Council recommended cutting the Goods and Services Tax rate on snacks from 18 per cent to 12 percent. Sectorally, Nifty media and healthcare gained over 1 percent while realty, pharma and IT rose between 0.5 and 1 percent.