Shares of public sector banks (PSB) continued to trade higher with the Nifty PSU Bank index up nearly 3 per cent on hopes of margin expansion.

Andhra Bank, United Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Uco Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Syndicate Bank were up more than 5 per cent each while Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda (BOB), Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Indian Bank were up in the range of 2 to 3 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The Essar Steel acquisition battle has shifted to the Supreme Court with the State Bank of India moving the highest court against the NCLAT (National Company Law Appellate Tribunal) suggestion to give more cash to operational creditors. In the voting conducted by Essar Steel’s lenders, almost 70 per cent of lenders agreed to give Rs 1,000 crore more to operational creditors as per a NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) and NCLAT suggestion.

The SBI action came just days before the NCLAT was to hear the outcome of the CoC meeting on April 9.

GST collections scaled record high of Rs 1.06 trillion in March, up from Rs 97,247 crore in the previous month, as compliance improved amid increased number of returns filed.

Total gross GST revenue collected in March, 2019 is Rs 1,06,577 crore of which Central GST is Rs 20,353 crore, State GST is Rs 27,520 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 50,418 crore and cess is Rs 8,286 crore, an official statement said.

A sharp rally in three private sector banks – HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank – that have gained over 10 per cent each from their August 29, 2018 level helped the benchmark index S&P BSE Sensex breeze past the 39,000 mark and hit a new high on Monday. The benchmark index surpassed its previous high of 38,990 recorded on August 29, 2018 in intra-day deals.

The Nifty50, too, breached the 11,700 level for the first time since September 2018 to hit an intra-day high of 11,716.

Bank of Baroda (BoB) Monday became the second largest state-owned lender after merging Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank into itself as part of the first three-way amalgamation.

The consolidated entity started its operation with a business mix of over Rs 15 lakh crore of balance sheet, with deposits and advances of Rs 8.75 lakh crore and Rs 6.25 lakh crore, respectively.

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India on Monday reported 1.6 per cent decline in sales at 1,58,076 units in March.

The company had sold 1,60,598 units in March last year, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement.

Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) Monday said it has won a gas export pipeline contract from Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).

The company said the order falls under "large" category that range between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 5,000 crore as per its classification of contracts.

Shares of Tata Motors were trading 5 per cent higher at Rs 183 on the BSE in early morning trade after the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said it expects improved financial results for the quarter ended March 2019 (Q4FY19).

In comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.62 per cent at 38,913 level at 09:39 am.

The South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) has become the first company in the country to have crossed coal production figure of 150 million tonnes in a financial year. The SECL achieved the record during the 2018-19 fiscal and crossed the 150 million tonnes mark on March 20, a company official said.

Amazon.com Inc. says it will hire an additional 800 engineers in Austin, Texas, the company’s first major U.S. office expansion since backing out of a corporate campus in New York.

In February, the online retailer abandoned plans for a campus in Queens, New York, amid opposition from local politicians and labor groups.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.