Airline stocks surge on lower fuel tax hopes

Shares in Indian airlines surged on TV reports that civil aviation ministry officials will meet with their finance ministry counterparts to discuss lowering aviation turbine fuel taxes, traders said.

The civil aviation ministry had proposed earlier to slash state taxes on jet fuel, which would help bring down costs for ailing local airlines that are reeling from a debt load of $20 billion and annual losses of around $2 billion.

Kingfisher Airlines surged 6.6%, while Jet Airways surged 4.6%. SpiceJet rose 3.8%.