Global market ended the week on a positive note. Japan’s index spiked above the 21,000 level for the first time since 1996. The benchmark index posted gains of 2.2% during the week. Robust corporate earnings coupled with broad economic improvements have led to the surge in the index.

Crude too surged by 5% during the week. From the lows of 30 dollars in 2016, the crude prices have now risen to 50 dollars. Oil prices rose as both US crude production and inventories declined. With, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cutting production, global oil markets seem to be broadly balanced now after years of oversupply.

Benchmark index in China too posted gains of 1.2% during the week. China released its trade data for the month of September. The data suggested that the exports as well as imports expanded at a decent pace, signaling an evidence of strength in the world’s second largest economy.

Key World Markets During the Week

Back home, S&P BSE Sensex too surged by 1.9% during the week. Shares of Bharti Airtel surged around 13% during the week. The surge was mainly on the back of a deal announcement to acquire Tata Teleservices.

Majority of the sectoral indices ended the week on a positive note. Stocks from telecom and information technology sector gained the most.

BSE Indices During the Week

Now let us discuss some key economic and industry developments during the week gone by

During the week, the new Good and Service tax (GST) completed a period of 100 days. One of the main reasons for implementation of the goods and service tax (GST) was to widen the taxpayers base by bringing the unorganized players in the tax net.

Let’s see how well the government has fared on this front?

Till date, nine million enterprises registered under the GST network. Of which, 2.6 million are new GST assesses and 6.4 million taxpayers are from the past regime. The new additions signify an increase of 40% to the previous tax base.

The tax collections too have largely been met. Against the target set by government for Rs 910 billion, the tax revenue collected for August was Rs 906 billion.

While, the tax seems to benefit the organized players in a big way, it is the unorganized segment who have taken a big hit. First, it was demonetization and now it is the implementation of GST. This hit is well reflected in the gross domestic product numbers. GDP growth has slumped to 5.7% in the June quarter from a high of 7.9% clocked in the June quarter of 2016.