The Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Thursday, buoyed by transformative rate reductions announced by the GST Council across sectors.
As of 9:25 am, the Sensex was up 554 points, or 0.69 per cent, at 81,122, while the Nifty rose 159 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 24,874.
Among broader indices, the Nifty Midcap 100 inched up 0.21 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 edged higher by 0.05 per cent.
The GST Council has reduced rates across insurance, medicines and daily essentials, providing relief to households, farmers and industries.
Notably, around 90 per cent of items previously taxed at 28 per cent GST have been moved to the 18 per cent slab, while nearly 99 per cent of goods in the 12 per cent category now fall under the 5 per cent bracket.
Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Auto was the top gainer, rising 2.51 per cent, followed by Nifty FMCG, which gained 1.73 per cent. Nifty IT, Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma were trading in the red.
In the Nifty pack, HUL, Grasim Industries, Bajaj Finserv and Trent were among the major gainers, while NTPC, Reliance Industries, Hindalco Industries and HCL Technologies were among the top losers.
Analysts said the GST reform, along with fiscal and monetary stimulus, could trigger a virtuous cycle, boosting India’s growth to 6.5 per cent in FY26 and potentially 7 per cent in FY27, supported by strong corporate earnings.
“The revolutionary GST reform has come better than expected, benefitting a wide spectrum of sectors. The potential big boost to consumption in an economy already experiencing growth momentum may be significant,” said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
“Automobiles, FMCG, white goods, cement, insurance, etc. will be the focus of the bulls’ attention. There is a high probability of short covering today pushing prices higher than expectations. However, after the initial enthusiasm, tariff issues will continue to haunt the market,” he added.
Asia-Pacific markets rose on Thursday following a tech rally overnight on Wall Street, even as recession concerns weighed on equities.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.05 per cent, while the Nasdaq gained 1.03 per cent and the S&P 500 added 0.51 per cent.
Asian markets traded mixed. China’s Shanghai index fell 1.71 per cent, while Shenzhen dropped 2.19 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.23 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 1.06 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi inched up 0.38 per cent.
On Wednesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs/FPIs) turned net sellers, offloading Indian equities worth Rs 1,666 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers with purchases worth Rs 2,495 crore.
— IANS