Market Live: Nifty opens at all-time high, Sensex soars 160 pts; HCL Tech gains 3%

Market Live: Nifty opens at all-time high, Sensex soars 160 pts; HCL Tech gains 3%GST Council meet: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to approve the remaining two crucial bills — State GST (SGST) and Union Territory GST (UTGST) — today.

If it approved, then that would be another decisive step in the run up to the implementation of the overhauled tax regime from July 1. Final drafts of the three other bills — Integrated GST (IGST), Central GST (CGST) and Compensation bill — already cleared by the Council.

Market Check: After a day of consolidation, equity benchmarks opened sharply higher on Thursday, with the Nifty hitting all-time high after the Federal Reserve raised rates and ahead of GST Council meet.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 156.94 points at 29,555.05 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 53.90 points at 9,138.70. 

Adani Ports, HUL, BHEL, L&T, ONGC, Hindalco and HCL Technologies gained 1-3 percent whereas Hero Motocorp fell half a percent.

Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rate by 25 basis points and set a range for interest rate at 0.75-1 percent but kept a dovish stance. It forecast 3 rate hikes each in 2017 and 2018.