Indian share markets continued to soar in the afternoon session amid firm global markets and headed for third straight session of gains on hopes of newly implemented goods and services tax (GST).
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 300 points, while the NSE Nifty finished up by 94 points. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Mid Cap & the S&P BSE Small Cap finished up by 1.1% and 1% respectively. Gains were largely seen in metal stocks, realty stocks, auto stocks and FMCG stocks.
Asian stock markets finished higher today with shares in Japan leading the region. The Nikkei 225 is up 0.11% while China’s Shanghai Composite is up 0.11% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up 0.08%. European markets are broadly higher today with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 is up 1.04% while Germany’s DAX is up 0.70% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.44%.
The rupee was trading at Rs 64.75 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 46.02 at the time of writing.
Ashok Leyland share price soared 6.9% after the auto major reported 11% rise in sales at 12,330 units against 11,108 units sold in the same month last year.
Meanwhile, with two-wheelers and sport-utility vehicles attracting lower tax rates under the Goods and Services Tax, more automakers announced passing on the benefit to the customers and slashed their vehicle prices.
The two-wheeler major TVS Motor Company cut prices of its models by up to Rs 4,150. Maruti Suzuki and luxury automakers Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes Benz, Audi India and BMW had already announced reduction in their car prices on July 1, in the range of 3% to 12%.
FMCG stocks finished the day up by 3.4% with Godrej consumer share price and ITC share price leading the gainers. ITC share price gained as much as 6% today to become the fourth Indian company to cross market capitalization of Rs 4 trillion as investors continued to buy the stock after the government notified that cigarettes will be exempted of additional excise duty under the goods and services tax (GST) regime.
