Stock Market closing: Sensex, Nifty surge as GST reform bid sparks rally

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex surged 676.09 points to close at 81,273.75 on August 18 2025, Monday. Intraday, the index jumped 1,168.11 points to 81,765.77. The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 245.65 points to settle at 24,876.95.

The benchmark indices surged as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced big bang reforms in the GST regime by Diwali and global rating agency, S&P upgrading India's sovereign credit rating.

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The exchange data informed that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 1,926.76 crore on August 14, 2025.

Positive movement was recorded in auto, consumer discretionary and consumer durables stocks. Gainers from the 30-share Sensex included Maruti, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Trent, Bajaj Finance, and UltraTech Cement. Laggards included Larsen & Toubro, Eternal, Tech Mahindra and ITC.

"There are strong tailwinds for the market with potential to take it higher. Declarations by the prime minister on the next major reforms in GST by Diwali are a big positive. S&P upgrading India’s sovereign credit rating is another major positive," Vijayakumar said.

Addressing the nation in his Independence Day speech on August 15, PM Modi announced the proposal to reform the GST law. On Sunday, the prime minister confirmed circulating the draft of the next-generation GST reforms among states and appealed to them for cooperation.

"The expectation is that most of the goods and services will be in the 5 per cent and 18 per cent tax slabs. Sectors like autos and cement, which are presently in the 28 per cent tax slabs, are expected to benefit. TVS Motors, Hero, Eicher, M&M and Maruti are likely to respond positively to the news. Insurance companies are also expected to benefit from the GST revision," Vijayakumar was quoted by PTI as saying.

Shanghai's SSE Composite and Japan's Nikkei 225 settled in Green, while South Korea's Kospi and Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded lower. The US stock markets ended mostly lower on Friday.

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Global oil benchmark Brent crude went down 0.05 per cent to USD 65.82 a barrel.

On 14th August, the 30-share Sensex gained 57.75 points to end at 80,597.66. The Nifty gained 11.95 points to 24,631.30.