India, Sept. 15 -- Steel stocks seem rock solid. In the recent past, they have traded positively. The share price of Tata Steel, for example, 2.8 per cent on September 8 to touch a 52-week high of Rs 172.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, buoyed by renewed optimism in the sector. The rally was fueled by supportive global supply trends, domestic tariff safeguards, and upbeat outlooks from top brokerages.

Although the new slabs in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) only simplify taxation for steelmakers, it does reduce the cascading taxes across the supply chains. For Tata Steel, this implies a neutral-to-slightly positive impact on operations, as steel will continue to attract the standard slab of 18 per cent, and a few value-added products m...