GST Bonanza fuels stock markets rally; Sensex jumps nearly 900 points
Mumbai (PTI): Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty surged in early trade on Thursday as investors became cheerful after the GST Council approved a complete overhaul of the tangled Goods and Services Tax regime.
The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 888.96 points to 81,456.67 in opening trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty surged 265.7 points to 24,980.75.
Common use items from roti/paratha to hair oil, ice creams and TVs will cost less, while tax incidence on personal health and life insurance will be brought down to nil after the GST Council on Wednesday approved a complete overhaul of the tangled Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
The GST Council approved limiting slabs to 5 per cent and 18 per cent, effective from September 22, the first day of Navaratri.
From the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra jumped the most by over 7.50 per cent. Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv, ITC, Tata Motors and UltraTech Cement were also among the gainers.
However, Eternal, Tata Steel, NTPC and HCL Tech were among the laggards.
"The revolutionary GST reform has come better-than-expected benefitting a wide spectrum of sectors. The ultimate beneficiary is the Indian consumer who will benefit from lower prices. The potential big boost to consumption in an economy that is already in growth momentum will be big and may surprise on the upside," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
He further added that after the initial enthusiasm, tariff issues will continue to haunt the market.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index traded in positive territory while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng quoted lower.
US markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,666.46 crore on Wednesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 2,495.33 crore, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.56 per cent to USD 67.22 a barrel.
On Wednesday, the Sensex jumped 409.83 points or 0.51 per cent to settle at 80,567.71, and the Nifty climbed 135.45 points or 0.55 per cent to 24,715.05.
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Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
