The Indian stock market closed Thursday’s session with minor gains as early optimism from GST rate cuts, which lifted auto and consumer durable stocks, faded by the close. Selling pressure in banking and technology counters also weighed on frontline indices, erasing most of the early gains.
The Nifty 50 ended 0.09% higher at 24,737, while the Sensex rose 0.19% to 80,718 points. The broader market, however, closed with steep losses, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 slipping over 0.65% each.
Sector-wise, Nifty Auto emerged as the top gainer, ending 0.80% higher, followed by Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables, which added 0.23% and 0.10%, respectively.
On the losing side, the Nifty PSU Bank index was the top laggard, dropping 1.11%, followed by Nifty Oil & Gas and Nifty IT, which declined 0.94% and 0.91%, respectively.
The GST Council, on September 3, approved a major simplification of the tax structure, collapsing four slabs (5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%) into just two — 5% and 18%, marking the most significant change since GST’s rollout in 2017. A special 40% rate will apply to select luxury and sin goods.
The move is part of the government’s effort to boost domestic consumption, particularly in urban India. Analysts believe that revised tax rates, coupled with income tax relief and repo rate cuts, could help revive consumer demand.
The new rates are set to lower prices across a wide range of items, from daily essentials to cars, bikes, and electronic goods, and will take effect from September 22, the first day of Navaratri.
Stationery, footwear and tractor stocks among major winners
Though the broader market came off sharply from the day’s highs, select stocks managed to post healthy gains, with DOMS Industrie leading the pack, rallying 7.4% to ₹2,689 apiece after the GST Council slashed rates on stationery items such as pencils, crayons, pastels, drawing charcoal, chalk sticks, and tailors’ chalk from 12% to nil.
Exercise books, graph books, laboratory notebooks, and notebooks have also been exempted from GST, compared with the earlier 12%. Additionally, boxes, pouches, wallets, and writing compendiums of paper or paperboard containing assorted stationery will now attract 5% GST instead of 12%.
Footwear stocks such as Bata India and Metro Brands also gained sharply, up 7% and 5%, respectively, after GST on pairs priced up to ₹2,500 was cut to 5% from 12%.
Meanwhile, Mahindra & Mahindra rose 6% to close at ₹3,481 apiece following the GST cut on large cars, including SUVs, to 40% from 50% earlier. GST on tractors was also slashed to 5% from 12% previously, while tractor tyres and parts have also been cut to 5% from an earlier 18%.
Likewise, Bajaj Finance ended 4.3% higher at ₹935 as sentiment improved on expectations that the GST cut on consumer durables to 12% will boost consumer lending.
FMCG names such as Emami, Colgate-Palmolive, Britannia Industries, Bikaji Foods International, Nestlé India, and Dabur India, along with QSR stocks like Jubilant Foodworks, Devyani International, Sapphire Foods India, and Westlife Foodworld, also rallied between 1% and 4.5%.
Ola, Paytm, Shree Renuka Sugars among top laggards
After a strong bull run, investors booked profits in Ola Electric, dragging the stock down 5.6% to ₹65.2 apiece. A similar trend was seen in Shree Renuka Sugars and Paytm, which had witnessed sharp gains in recent sessions but came under pressure today, slipping 3.4% and 3.2%, respectively.
TBO Tek also faced selling pressure, sliding 3.4% to ₹1,536.5 apiece. Other notable losers included GE Vernova T&D India, Shipping Corporation, Data Patterns (India), Garden Reach Shipbuilders, JM Financial, and Cochin Shipyard, each declining over 3%.
In total, 35 stocks from the Nifty 500 index closed with losses ranging between 2% and 5.5%.
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