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Luxury car buyers in India are in for a treat this festive season. The PM Modi-led Central government's GST 2.0 reforms have lowered effective tax rates on premium vehicles, prompting automakers to pass on the benefits directly to customers.Models from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Audi, and Volvo are now priced more attractively, with discounts reaching as high as Rs 30.40 lakh on select vehicles. Earlier, luxury cars fell under the 28% GST bracket along with a compensation cess of 20–22%, taking the total tax burden to nearly 50%. Under the new GST 2.0 framework, they now sit in a 40% slab, resulting in significantly lower ex-showroom prices. Electric vehicles remain at a 5% GST rate with no compensation cess, which has been removed for all kinds of vehicles in the GST 2.0 regime.Mercedes-Benz IndiaMercedes-Benz has cut prices on all ICE models starting September 22. Reductions reach up to Rs 11 lakh across SUVs and sedans.ModelPrice reduction (Rs)GLA 220d 4MATIC AMG Line3.8 lakhGLC 300 4MATIC5.3 lakhGLE 450 4MATIC8 lakhGLS 450d AMG Line10 lakhA200d2.6 lakhC300 AMG Line3.7 lakhE-Class LWB 450 4MATIC6 lakhS 450 4MATIC11 lakhBMW Group IndiaBMW’s SUVs and sedans have seen reductions ranging from Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs 9 lakh, while MINI Cooper models are cheaper by Rs 2.5–3 lakh.ModelPrice reduction (Rs)X11.8 lakhX56.3 lakhX79 lakh2 Series Gran Coupe1.6 lakh3 Series LWB3.4 lakh5 Series LWB4.1 lakhJaguar Land Rover IndiaJLR has passed on GST benefits ranging from Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 30.4 lakh across its SUV line-up.ModelPrice reduction (Rs)Discovery4.5–9.9 lakhDefender7–18.6 lakhRange Rover4.6–30.4 lakhAudi IndiaModelPrice reduction (Rs)Q33.07 lakhQ54.55 lakhQ76.15 lakhQ87.83 lakhA42.64 lakhA63.64 lakhVolvo Car IndiaVolvo currently sells only two ICE SUVs in India: the XC60 and XC90. Price cuts are substantial.ModelPrice reduction (Rs)XC604.79 lakhXC906.93 lakhThe luxury car segment in India has been steadily growing. In FY25, sales crossed 50,000 units for the first time, reaching around 51,500. Mercedes-Benz led with 18,928 units, followed by BMW at 15,266 and JLR at 6,183 units.

Shares of Oracle Financial Services Software (OFSS) jumped more than 9% to Rs 643.95 on the BSE on Wednesday, tracking the dramatic 27% after-hours surge in parent company Oracle Corp’s shares. Investors cheered Oracle’s ambitious cloud outlook, including a forecast for half a trillion dollars in booked revenue, and multi-billion-dollar client deals that could drive OFSS’s own license and cloud revenue higher.Cloud momentum drives OFSS gainsOracle Corp said on Tuesday that its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) business expects booked revenue to exceed half a trillion dollars, with remaining performance obligations (RPO) jumping 359% to $455 billion in the first quarter ended August 31. CEO Safra Catz said, "Over the next few months, we expect to sign up several additional multi-billion-dollar customers and RPO is likely to exceed half-a-trillion dollars."The U.S.-listed Oracle shares surged 27% in post-market trading, the biggest gain since 1999, after the company forecast OCI revenue growth of 77% to $18 billion this fiscal year and $144 billion over the subsequent four years. Oracle has also signed deals with Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft to run OCI inside their respective cloud infrastructure, driving revenue from these clients up 1,529% in the first quarter.OFSS benefits from parent’s cloud boomOFSS said its license and cloud revenue grew 13% over the last fiscal year. Analysts note that the company is well-positioned to leverage Oracle’s cloud technology and multi-cloud contracts. Catz highlighted, "We made it very easy for our customers to directly connect all their databases ... to the world's most advanced AI reasoning models—ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, all of which are uniquely available in the Oracle Cloud."Market context and stock performanceWhile OFSS shares are down 27% on a year-to-date basis, the stock has gained roughly 10% over the past month. Traders lifted OFSS sharply on Wednesday, reflecting optimism that Oracle’s cloud expansion will translate into stronger growth for its Indian subsidiary.Also read | An Oracle may displace Elon Musk as the world's richest billionaireOracle also signed four multi-billion-dollar contracts with three different customers in the first quarter, helping total revenue climb 12% to $14.93 billion. For the second quarter, Oracle expects total revenue growth of 12% to 14%, while cloud revenue is projected to rise 32% to 36%.What’s next for investors?With Oracle planning to add 37 more data centres across its hyperscaler partners, Chairman Larry Ellison said, "We expect MultiCloud revenue to grow substantially every quarter for several years." Investors are now closely watching whether this cloud momentum will continue to drive OFSS revenue and margins in the coming quarters.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

Shares of IT major Infosys gained 2% to an intraday high of Rs 1,535 on the BSE, ahead of its share buyback meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 11. If approved, this will be the company’s fifth share buyback.Data from ET Intelligence Group (ETIG) shows that from the day of such announcements, Infosys shares rose on three out of four occasions over three- and six-month periods. During one-month periods, however, performance has been mixed.The last buyback took place in 2022, when the company spent Rs 9,300 crore to repurchase shares via the open market. In fact, all of the last three buybacks were conducted through the open market, not via the tender offer route. It remains to be seen whether the company will adopt the tender offer or the open market route this time.“The last buyback didn’t really help the stock deliver much in the medium to long term. However, the current scenario looks different — valuations are now more attractive than they were back then, and the stock has been consolidating at lower levels for quite some time,” market expert Neeraj Dewan said.From a technical standpoint, Infosys’ relative strength index (RSI) has risen to 53.27, according to StockEdge data. An uptrend signal is generated when the RSI crosses above 50 from below. “RSI trending up” indicates rising values, suggesting renewed momentum in the stock price.At around 11:20 am, shares of Infosys were trading at Rs 1,530, up 1.7% from the previous close. The stock remains down more than 18% year-to-date.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)