A look at the headlines in the sector right now:

  1. GST Council lowers tax rates on 178 goods, only 50 items now under 28% slab: Congress-ruled states had asked for the highest tax rate to be 18%.
  2. State Bank of India’s net profit shrinks 37% in July-September, asset quality improves: The net profit of Rs 1,582 crore was way below the market estimates.   
  3. Sensex, Nifty close higher despite rise in global oil prices: The biggest gainer on both indices was State Bank of India, whose shares rose despite reporting lower-than-expected second-quarter earnings.   
  4. JustDial says report about Google buying it is ‘factually incorrect’: Shares of the Indian search engine surged almost 20% after a report in ‘Business Standard’ said it was discussing a deal with Google.   
  5. Travel website TripAdvisor to flag hotels where cases of sexual assault have been reported: Business listings will not be removed from the portal regardless of the number of complaints, the company said.   
  6. Rising food prices to push India’s October inflation to 7-month high, says Reuters poll: Inflation will be at its highest since March if the data, due to be released on November 13, matches expectations.
  7. Centre expects mineral auction worth Rs 50,000 crore in the last four months of the 2017-’18 financial year: The government has been able to auction Rs 1.80 lakh crore worth of minerals for 33 mines during the last two years, Union Mines Secretary Arun Kumar said.