NEW DELHI: Aviation companies, including SpiceJet, Jet Airways and InterGlobe Aviation, defied overall market sentiment on Thursday as they rose on the excise duty cut on jet fuel.Excise duty on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has been reduced to 11 per cent from 14 per cent with effect from October 11, a notification issued by the finance ministry said on Wednesday.The reduction is expected to give relief to the industry that has been hit hard by rising fuel prices and a plummeting rupee.SpiceJet stock was 3 per cent up at Rs 70.15 at around 9.50 am while Jet Airways went up 1.50 per cent to Rs 192.
Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, the owner of IndiGo, firmed up 4.60 per cent at Rs 780.05.In contrast, the benchmark Sensex, after crashing 1,000 points, was down 768 points, or over 2 per cent at 33,992 at around the same time.Just last week, the government had cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre and asked state-owned oil firms to subsidise the fuel by another Re 1 a litre.
The government had in 2016 raised excise duty on ATF to 14 per cent from 8 per cent.In global markets, crude oil prices came off by over 1.50 per cent, which further supported sentiment for aviation stocks.
Brent crude futures fell $1.56 to $81.53 a barrel.