Sensex Finishes Marginally Higher; HPCL & ONGC Surge On Merger News

Indian share markets finished marginally higher in the afternoon session as investors turned cautious ahead of consumer inflation data. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 58 points, while the NSE Nifty finished up by 30 points. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Mid Cap & the S&P BSE Small Cap finished up by 1.1% and 0.6% respectively. Gains were largely seen in PSU stocks, bank stocks, and energy stocks while software stocks finished in red.

Asian stock markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng gained 0.66%, while the Nikkei 225 & the Shanghai Composite fell 0.48% and 0.17% respectively. European markets are higher today with shares in London leading the region. The FTSE 100 is up 0.95% while France’s CAC 40 is up 0.77% and Germany’s DAX is up 0.69%.

The rupee was trading at Rs 64.49 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 45.78 at the time of writing.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has expressed his hopes that the ‘game-changing’ goods and services tax (GST) regime will help lower inflation by 1-2 percent by the end of financial year 2018, and it will also create buoyancy in the economy through better compliance and ease of doing business.

Revenue Secretary further stated that the primary objective of the government is to keep the inflation low and added that the government has tried to keep items for common man use under the lower tax bracket.

Under the GST, he noted that rates on items have been fixed in such a manner that it does not affect any section of the society adversely. He also predicted that the new tax regime will give a push to country’s exports and Make In India initiative in the long term.

GST’s Impact on Aam Aadmi’s Spending

While GST will impact businesses and industries in a big way, it won’t directly affect the salaried class and self-employed people. Since it is an indirect tax, it does not change the way they pay their personal taxes. The only impact they will see would be due to the change in rates of the goods and services they avail.