After opening the day on a positive note, share markets in India continued the momentum and ended the day in green. Gains were largely seen in the FMCG sector and consumer durables sector, while stocks in the PSU sector ended the day in red.
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 106 points (up 0.4%) and the NSE Nifty closed higher by 10 points (up 0.1%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down by 1.2%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 1.1%.
Meanwhile, ITC share price closed near record-high levels on sustained buying after the GST council announced various tax rates, which were viewed as favorable for the company.
ITC had witnessed months of pain on the back of an uncertainty in the GST tax rates on cigarettes. However, with the tax slabs fixed in the range of 5-28%, coupled with a cess cap of 15%, taxation on cigarettes are set to be lower.
Asian stock markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng dropped 0.14% and the Nikkei gained 0.25%. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.74%. European markets too are trading mixed today. The FTSE 100 is up 0.59% while Germany’s DAX is trading flat and France’s CAC 40 is down 0.29%. The rupee was trading at 64.09 to the US$ at the time of writing.
Aided by government’s various initiatives to improve ease of doing business, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow into India increased 8% in fiscal year 2016-17 to touch a new high. According to the statistics released by Ministry of Commerce and Industry, FDI increased to US$60.1 billion in fiscal year 2016-17 from previous high of US$55.6 billion in fiscal year 2015-16.
The Commerce and Industry Ministry has said that during the last three years, the government eased foreign investment norms in 21 sectors covering 87 areas.
It also said that the country has now become an attractive destination for foreign investment, noting that the FDI flows increased by 62% to US$ 99.7 billion as compared to US$ 61.4 billion during the previous 30 months (April 2012 to September 2014), on the back of ‘Make in India’ initiative.
