Sensex Soars For Biggest Intra-Day Gains, Nifty Past 11,300-Mark As Govt Slashes Corporate Tax Rates

BSE Sensex soared more than 2,200 points to pass over 39,200 at one point in afternoon trade while the broader NSE Nifty benchmark climbed 597 points to pass the 11,300-mark. Sensex had last logged biggest one-day gain of 2,110.79 points on May 18, 2009 after the UPA's win in the 2009 General Election. The surge came after the Narendra Modi government in an effort to aid the domestic sector fighting economic slowdownon on Friday announced corporate tax rates to be slashed for domestic companies and for new domestic manufacturing companies.

Announcing the key measure, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that, 'to boost Make in India, another insertion inserted to Income Tax Act with effect from 2019-20, which allows any new domestic company incorporated on or after 1st Oct 2019 making fresh investment in manufacturing an option to pay income tax at rate of 15%.

"To promote growth, a new provision has been inserted in the income tax act with effect from fiscal year 2019-20, which allows any domestic company to pay income tax at the rate of 22% subject to condition they will not avail any incentive or exemptions," she further said. 

In the previous session, the BSE barometer ended 470.41 points, or 1.29 per cent, lower at 36,093.47, while the Nifty plunged 135.85 points, or 1.25 per cent, to settle at 10,704.80.

Further, in a bid to boost lending, the government on Thursday asked public sector banks to hold loan melas in 400 districts to lend to desirable shadow banks and retail borrowers, and said no stressed loan account of MSMEs will be declared an NPA till March 2020.

On the global front, resumption of trade talks between the US and China also buoyed market mood, traders said. Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note in their respective late morning sessions. On Wall Street too, bourses too ended on a positive note on Thursday.