Key gauges trade marginally higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased initial losses and traded marginally higher in morning deals, led by gains in Oil & Gas, FMCG and Energy stocks. Traders took support with Commerce and industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the ongoing talks between India and the US for the proposed trade agreement between India and the US are progressing well and will be for the good of both nations while protecting India's interests. Some support also came as India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) stated that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI's) monetary policy committee (MPC) is expected cut benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points in its policy review meeting next month to push growth. Sector-wise, stocks related to power sector remained in watch as Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said India is on track to achieve the 500 GW renewable energy target by 2030 as investment commitments of Rs 32 lakh crore have been received. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as concerns about the upcoming ‘reciprocal tariffs’ and a widening trade war overshadowed data showing that the US economy grew faster than estimated.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77661.40, up by 54.97 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 77309.79 and 77750.45. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.56%, while Small cap index was up by 0.83%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.81%, FMCG up by 1.64%, Energy up by 1.30%, PSU up by 1.06% and Consumer Durables up by 0.89%, while IT down by 0.75%, TECK down by 0.65%, Auto down by 0.30% and Healthcare down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.60%, Nestle up by 1.81%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.79%, Tata Motors up by 1.51% and Eternal up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.73%, Infosys down by 1.50%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.29%, Indusind Bank down by 1.28% and Sun Pharma down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the ongoing talks between India and the US for the proposed trade agreement between India and the US are progressing well and will be for the good of both nations while protecting India's interests. Goyal also said that he is in regular and constant dialogue with the industry from different sectors including agriculture, engineering, electronics, textiles, and various interest groups.

India and the US are aiming to conclude the first phase or tranche of the agreement by the fall of 2025 (September-October). They have also set a target to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 from the current over $190 billion. While the US has demanded greater market access in sectors like certain industrial goods, automobiles, wines, petrochemical products and some agriculture items, India may look at duty cuts for labour intensive sectors like textiles.

In 2024, India's main exports to the US included drug formulations, biological ($8.1 billion), telecom instruments ($6.5 billion), precious and semi-precious stones ($5.3 billion), petroleum products ($4.1 billion), gold and other precious metal jewellery ($3.2 billion), ready-made garments of cotton including accessories ($2.8 billion), and products of iron and steel ($2.7 billion). Imports included crude oil ($4.5 billion), petroleum products ($3.6 billion), coal, coke ($3.4 billion), cut and polished diamonds ($2.6 billion), electric machinery ($1.4 billion), aircraft, space crafts and parts ($1.3 billion), and gold ($1.3 billion).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23625.45, up by 33.50 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 23504.95 and 23635.30. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 4.16%, Tata Consumer Product up by 3.92%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.20%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.94% and JIO Financial Services up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.74%, Wipro down by 1.80%, Shriram Finance down by 1.62%, Infosys down by 1.53% and Power Grid Corporation down by 1.49% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 891.43 points or 2.36% to 36,908.54, Taiwan Weighted lost 380.88 points or 1.74% to 21,570.88, Hang Seng declined 210.13 points or 0.9% to 23,368.67, KOSPI dropped 53.78 points or 2.06% to 2,553.37 and Shanghai Composite weakened 24.07 points or 0.72% to 3,349.68.

On the flip side, Straits Times rose 7.21 points or 0.18% to 3,988.78.