Indian Stock Indices Surge as Finance Minister Discusses Tax Reform

Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extended gains on October 13, 2026, driven by signals of potential tax reform and positive economic forecasts. The Sensex rose 930 points to 72,854, while the Nifty climbed 295 points to 22,658.

Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister of India, spoke at the Bloomberg Economic Forum, stating that the government would listen to views regarding the removal of the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax. She characterized the ongoing debate over the securities transaction tax as healthy. In a parallel development, SBI Research called for the total abolition of the LTCG tax on equities and suggested extending the holding period to two or three years to stabilize capital inflows.

Market sentiment was further supported by the International Monetary Fund raising India's growth forecast for the 2026-27 financial year to 7 per cent. Additional catalysts included a decline in Brent crude prices and a rally in IT stocks, specifically led by HCL Technologies, which saw its share price increase by over 8%.