Mumbai, September 18: Minutes after the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Centre's decision to ban e-cigarettes, shares of cigarette makers surged on Wednesday. At the closing bells, the shares of ITC Ltd rose by 0.86 percent while Godfrey Phillips India Ltd'share soared 5.26 percent. Even VST Industries Ltd gained 0.99 percent, and Golden Tobacco Ltd climbed 4.84 percent. Sensex Closes 83 Points Higher at 36,564, Nifty Ends Below 10,850, Godfrey Phillips Up by 5%.

The Union Minister, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday, made it clear that the Central government has decided to ban production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale, distribution or advertisements of e-cigarettes. It also made these activities a cognizable offence.

Following this, the shares of ITC Ltd stood at 239.25, Godfrey Phillips India Ltd at 992.70, Golden Tobacco at 30.35 and VSt at 3556.35 respectively in the BSE Sensex. At the end of the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood at 36.563.88, with a gain of 0.23 percent. Also, Nifty50 was at 10.840.6, 0.21 percent higher than the previous closing.

Apart from the cigarette manufacturers, metal stocks were up with Tata Steel gaining by 3.7 percent, Vedanta by 3.1 percent and JSW Steel by 2.1 percent. Even Bharat Petroleum Corporation, IndianOil Corporation, GAIL, State Bank of India, Bharti Infratel and Tech Mahindra emerged as gainers in the stock market. E-Cigarettes Banned in India: FM Nirmala Sitharaman Announces Blanket Ban on Sale of Vaping.

However, FMCG leaders like Britannia continued with its downfall and saw a dip of 2.92 percent in its stock. Other losers for Wednesday were Indiabulls Housing Finance, Coal India, ONGC, Eicher Motors, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank. Though the BSE S&P Sensex closed 83 points and Nifty 50 inched up by 23 points, most investors remain in a pessimistic mood.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 18, 2019 04:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).