Mumbai, June 5
The Sensex closed above the 25,000 level and the Nifty ended at a new high today powered by metal, power and oil & gas shares on hopes of a quick revival in domestic economy, amid strong expectations the European Central Bank will unveil a stimulus shortly.

Buying was strong with 11 of 12 sectoral indices posting gains between 0.17% and 3.33%.

Metal, oil & gas, power, FMCG, IT and capital goods led the surge. Persistent capital inflows from foreign funds into equity market and widespread buying by retail investors boosted the market sentiment, said traders.

India's services sector expanded for the first time in nearly a year during May on rebound in new business orders. FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 192.56 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

The BSE Sensex resumed higher, but dropped to a low of 24,644.88. It later recovered sharply to settle at its new closing high of 25,019.51, a rise of 213.68 points or 0.86%. It breached previous closing peak of 24,858.59 hit on June 3.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also flared up by 71.85 points, or 0.97%, to end at new peak of 7,474.10 — surpassing its June 3 closing of 7,415.85.

Sensex-based counters like Tata Motors, Sesa Sterlite, ONGC, Infosys, HUL, RIL, ITC, Tata Steel, Hindalco, TCS, HDFC, Axis Bank, Tata Power, Wipro, Hero MotoCorp and Gail closed with sharp to marked gains.

Banking stocks had a forgettable day as shares like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank saw profit-taking.

Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research, Veracity Broking Services said: "Local equities posted third daily gain in four. Investors are closely watching the every single move of government. Already some of the steps taken by the PM Narendra Modi have boosted investor confidence.

"It is expected that the new government will form business friendly economic policies which will remove the bottleneck and will eventually help the economy to grow." — PTI

Strong buying boosts markets Metal, oil & gas, power, FMCG, IT and capital goods led the surge Hopes of a quick revival in domestic economy, amid strong expectations the European Central Bank will unveil a stimulus shortly pushed the market up Eleven of 12 sectoral indices posted gains between 0.17% and 3.33% Persistent capital inflows from foreign funds into equity market and widespread buying by retail investors boosted the market sentiment

New Delhi, June 5
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assured that despite the constraints of the economy as it exists today, the government will try its best to boost the agriculture sector in the Budget.

The Finance Minister said this while holding his first pre-Budget consultation with representatives of the agriculture sector here today.

Jaitley said though agriculture and its allied sector employs the largest number of people in the country, its share in the GDP has contracted over the years. He said the concerns of the agriculture sector are high on the priority of the government.

Various suggestions were received from different representatives of the farm sector. Major suggestions include establishing a Kisan TV Channel to create awareness among farmers about new technologies, government programmes and quality parameters among others.

Other suggestions included timely decision on Minimum Support Price at cost of production plus 50%, timely and efficient procurement policy, priority for mechanisation in all commodities, setting up of commodity-wise board, water conservation as a national priority with focus on drip & sprinkler irrigation, timely completion of irrigation projects and linking of rivers, setting up of National Water Authority and River Valley Authorities among others.

New Delhi, June 5
European health regulator today lifted suspension imposed on export of drugs produced at Ranbaxy's Toansa plant to the EU stating medicines produced at the site posed no risk to public health despite having a number of manufacturing deficiencies.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said European regulatory authorities have finalised their assessment of reported non-compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) at the Toansa plant.

"There were a number of GMP deficiencies at the concerned site, assessment of all available information has reassured European regulators that there has been no risk to public health from these deficiencies," it said.

As a consequence, the EU authorities will reinstate the GMP certificate which was suspended in January 2014. The certificate will be re-entered into EudraGMDP, the EU database that contains GMP certificates, EMA added.

It said: "Patients should continue to take their medicines as prescribed by their healthcare professional." Ranbaxy had voluntarily suspended exports from the Toansa plant to the EU in January 2014 after USFDA had banned the company from exporting drugs produced at the plant to be sold in the US. — PTI

New Delhi, June 5
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has rejected Vodafone India's request to extend its licences in seven service areas that are expiring next year.

"(Vodafone's) request for extension of licences in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP East, Maharashtra and Gujarat service areas expiring in December 2015 cannot be acceded," a DoT note said. In 2015-16, 29 licences are expiring, including the seven held by Vodafone.

However, the official note said circumstances have materially changed since the permits were granted in 1995 and the extension of licences is no longer conducive.

DoT cited a February 2, 2012, judgement of the Supreme Court, which cancelled 122 licences that were allocated spectrum through an administrative process without being auctioned, provisions of the National Telecom Policy 2012 and the new licence regime among the reasons for rejecting Vodafone's request. — PTI

New Delhi, June 5
Infosys today saw the exit of its global head of strategic sales, marketing and alliances Prasad Thrikutam.

The exit of Thrikutam, who was also the head of Infosys Americas, comes within a fortnight of the resignation of president and Board member BG Srinivas as the company searches for a CEO to succeed SD Shibulal who is due to retire by January next year.

This is the 11th top-level exit from the company since the return of co-founder NR Narayana Murthy at the helm of affairs in June last year. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Sugar import duty may be hiked from 15% to 40%
New Delhi: The government is examining raising sugar import duty from 15% to 40%. This was announced by Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday. He said the government was also examining providing additional interest-free loans to cash-starved sugar mills for clearing sugarcane arrears. — PTI

Videocon Telecom ties up with Huawei for 4G rollout
New Delhi: Videocon Telecom has tied up with Chinese equipment firm Huawei Technologies for rolling out 4G network in six out of its seven service areas. This was announced by Videocon Telecom's director and CEO Arvind Bali. — PTI

Merc launches India made S Class diesel at Rs 1.07 cr
Pune: German carmaker Mercedes Benz on Thursday rolled out the locally made diesel variant of its luxury sedan S Class 350 priced at Rs 1.07 crore (ex-showroom Maharashtra). This is for the first time that Merc is introducing the diesel variant of its popular S Class models. — PTI

M&M launches 'XUV500 Sportz' at Rs 13.68 lakh
New Delhi: M&M on Thursday launched a special edition of its sports utility vehicle XUV500, priced at Rs 13.68 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai). It comes with various external and internal features, including rear-view camera and leather-fabric seats. — PTI

SBoP inaugurates new Dera Bassi branch
Chandigarh: State Bank of Patiala on Thursday shifted its Dera Bassi (main) branch to its new premises at Galaxy Square on the Ambala-Chandigarh Road. It was inaugurated by Gurnam Singh, general manager (retail network), SBoP, Chandigarh. This is the only currency chest branch (approved by RBI) at the centre. — TNS

Airtel ties up with Tigo, Zantel for money transfer
New Delhi: Airtel on Thursday said it has tied up with African telecom operators Tigo and Zantel for providing customers in Tanzania mobile money transfer service across networks. — PTI