Mumbai, Sep 4 : The Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Thursday, buoyed by transformative rate reductions announced by the GST Council across sectors.

As of 9.25 am, the Sensex was up 554 points or 0.69 per cent, at 81,122, and the Nifty was up 159 points or 0.64 per cent, at 24,874.

The broadcap indices, Nifty Midcap 100 inched up by 0.21 per cent, and the Nifty Small cap 100 inched up 0.05 per cent.

The GST Council has reduced rates across insurance, medicines, and daily essentials, providing significant relief to households, farmers, and industries.

Notably, around 90 per cent of items previously taxed at 28 per cent GST have been moved to the 18 per cent slab, while nearly 99 per cent of goods in the 12 per cent category now fall under the 5 per cent bracket.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Auto was the top gainer, rising 2.51 per cent, followed by Nifty FMCG, which gained 1.73 per cent. Nifty IT, Nifty Metal andn Nifty Pharma were trading in the red zone.

In the Nifty pack, HUL, Grasim Industries and Bajaj Finserv, Trent were among major gainers, while losers included NTPC, Reliance Industries, Hindalco Industries and HCL Technologies.

Analysts said that GST reform and fiscal and monetary stimulus can trigger a virtuous cycle, boosting India's growth to 6.5 per cent in FY26 and perhaps 7 per cent in FY27 with impressive gains in corporate earnings.

"The revolutionary GST reform has come better than expected, benefitting a wide spectrum of sectors. The potential big boost to consumption in an economy already experiencing growth momentum may be significant," said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

'Automobiles, FMCG, white goods, cement, insurance, etc. will be the focus of the bulls' attention. There is a high probability of short covering today pushing prices higher than expectations. However, after the initial enthusiasm, tariff issues will continue to haunt the market," he added.

Asia-Pacific markets rose in Thursday following a tech rally overnight on Wall Street, even as growing fears around recession weighed on equities.

In the US markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped by 0.05 per cent, while the Nasdaq advanced by 1.03 per cent and the S&P 500 inched up 0.51 per cent.

The Asian markets traded mixed. China's Shanghai index slipped 1.71 per cent, and Shenzhen dipped 2.19 per cent. Japan's Nikkei was up 1.23 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 1.06 per cent. South Korea's Kospi inched up 0.38 per cent.

On Wednesday, foreign investors (FIIs/FPIs) turned net sellers with outflows worth Rs 1,666 crore worth of Indian equities, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 2,495 crore.

/IANS