Liquor stocks gain after Supreme Court clarifies on Highway liquor ban

STOCK MARKET - Shares of liquor companies have rallied by up to 15% on BSE in early morning trade after the report suggests that the Supreme Court on Wednesday clarified that the liquor ban on highways does not extend to municipal areas.

The court, in an order dated July 11, which was uploaded on the Supreme Court website on Wednesday, clarified that the 500-metre ban does not prohibit licensed establishments within municipal areas.

Among the individual stocks, United Spirits, Globus Spirits, GM Breweries, Pincon Spirit and Radico Khaitan were up in the range of 5% to 13% on BSE. On comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.12% at 31,605 at 09:35 am.

Despite a ban on serving alcohol 500 metres from highways, which came into effect on April 1, most of the frontline liquor stocks had outperformed the market since then. United Spirits, Khoday India, Radico Khaitan and Pioneer Distilleries had gained in the range of 14% to 21%, against 7% rise in the benchmark index.

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