The benchmark indices ended nearly 2 percent higher this week after the government announced deep cuts in corporate taxes to revive flagging growth in Asia's third-largest economy.

Share Market Live

NSE

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government proposed to cut corporate tax rates to 22 percent for domestic companies, provided they will not avail exemptions or incentives and 15 percent for new domestic manufacturing enterprises as part of a raft of measures to boost economic growth.

"The new corporate tax reforms by the government is music to the investor’s ears and will help to revive economic outlook in the coming quarters. FIIs now have a good reason to come back to India and this progressive step will stimulate consumption and ignite capex cycle. Additionally, companies will get more elbow room to pass on benefits to customers, which in turn will improve earnings visibility," said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.

Before the announcement of corporate tax cuts today, the Nifty and the Sensex had fallen over 3 percent each this week marred by concerns over surging crude prices and slowing economic growth both at home and globally.

For Friday, the benchmark indices rose over 5 percent, their biggest one-day gain in a decade. The Sensex ended 1921 points higher at 38,015, while the broader Nifty50 index added 569 points to end the day at 11,274. In broader markets, the Nifty Midcap and the Nifty Smallcap indices rose 6 and 4 percent, respectively.

For the week, the Nifty and the Sensex posted gains of 1.8 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Among broader market indices, the Nifty MidCap index gained 2.3 percent this week. In sectors, the Nifty FMCG was up 4.3 percent, while the Nifty Bank and the Nifty Auto rose 3 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, selling was seen in the Nifty Media, the Nifty IT and Nifty Realty.

Nifty Gainers

Among Nifty gainers, Titan Company rose over 12 percent after global research firm Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight with a target of Rs 1,300 from Rs 1,110 per share.

HUL and Asian Paints gained 9 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively after the government announced fiscal measures to revive the Indian economy.

Other major gainers for the week included Bajaj Finance, Britannia, Eicher Motors, Vedanta and HDFC Bank, up in the range of 6-8 percent.

Nifty Losers

Among the Nifty losers, Yes Bank was the biggest loser for the week, down 19 percent followed by Zee, TCS, NTPC, PowerGrid and Indiabulls Housing, which fell between 3-14 percent.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises declined 14 percent this week following reports that the promoter has been restricted from selling stake in the media company.

Indiabulls Housing fell 3 percent on reports that the RBI has intensified its scrutiny on the managements of Lakshmi Vilas Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance ahead of the merger, following fresh accusations of wrongdoing and the sudden exit of the bank’s CEO.

Midcap gainers and losers

Page Industries emerged as the biggest gainers among midcaps, rising 21.5 percent this week. Kajaria Cements, Colgate, Jubilant Foodworks, Godrej Consumer, Ashok Leyland and PVR were the other major midcap gainers, up between 9-19 percent.

Among losers, Equitas fell the most, down 15.4 percent this week. Meanwhile, Dish TV, REC, PFC, BHEL and Piramal Enterprises fell between 3-13 percent.