Markets maintain gains in late morning deals

Indian equity markets maintained their gains in late morning deals on account of buying by funds and retail investors. Meanwhile, broader indices outperformed their large peers with BSE Small cap index and BSE Mid cap index gaining in the range of 0.85-1.10%. Falling crude oil prices supported domestic sentiments. Crude oil prices fell after OPEC+ agreed to surge production for a second month. Further, support also came in as Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Dr V Anantha Nageswaran has said Indian economy is in good shape despite the challenging global environment. He also said that the current economic indicators show that the Indian economy is progressing well. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following the positive cues from US markets on Friday. Some of the major markets in the region were closed, including China, Hong Kong and Japan. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up positions in Oil & Gas, Utilities, Energy, Power and Auto, while selling was witnessed only in banking.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80847.22, up by 345.23 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 80657.71 and 81049.03. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.06%, while Small cap index up by 0.89%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.69%, Utilities up by 1.45%, Energy up by 1.26%, Power up by 1.23%, Auto up by 1.17%, while Bankex down by 0.88% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports up by 6.93%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.67%, Eternal up by 2.28%, Asian Paints up by 2.22% and Power Grid up by 1.87%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 4.94%, SBI down by 1.23%, Indusind Bank down by 0.76%, Axis Bank down by 0.69% and NTPC down by 0.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has said that the US is expected to push for sweeping changes in India's policies, ranging from tariff reductions to regulatory overhauls, that could benefit American firms and exporters, under the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with India. It added that with regard to Agri sector, the US demands include scaling back India's minimum price support (MSP) programs for crops like rice and wheat, removing restrictions on genetically modified (GM) imports, and lowering farm tariffs. Similarly, on dairy products, the US argues that India's GM-free feed certification and facility registration protocols effectively bar American dairy imports. GTRI has indicated that India considers this policy non-negotiable as the Indian rules prohibit imports from animals fed with animal-derived feed, for example, butter from a cow fed meat due to religious sensitivities.

Apart from Agri and dairy products, GTRI has said that, the US may also seek easing of restrictions on US retail giants like Amazon and Walmart that face roadblocks due to India's restrictions on foreign-owned inventory-based e-commerce trading. Meanwhile, in order to protect the small domestic retailers from unfair competition from deep-pocketed foreign firms, India has resisted easing of such restrictions. It added that the country also views these restrictions as part of preserving regulatory autonomy in a fast-evolving sector.  

With regards to capital goods, GTRI has indicated that the US has criticized India's cumbersome licensing requirements for remanufactured and second-hand capital goods, calling the process costly and slow, as the India mandates technical certificates, enforces quantity restrictions, and demands a residual life guarantee of at least five years for imports. GTRI has emphasized the importance of India maintaining differentiating between new and remanufactured products to prevent dumping of obsolete technologies and to protect local manufacturing. It has warned that as the negotiations proceed, Washington will continue pressing for wide-ranging reforms in tariffs, standards, digital rules, and services access.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24484.40, up by 137.70 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 24400.65 and 24526.40. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 6.87%, Adani Enterprises up by 6.01%, Trent up by 4.07%, Shriram Finance up by 3.32% and Bajaj Finserv up by 2.55%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 4.90%, ONGC down by 2.03%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.34%, SBI down by 1.06% and JSW Steel down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite gained 35.82 points or 0.52% to 6,851.55, Straits Times rose 4.09 points or 0.11% to 3,849.23. However, Taiwan Weighted lost 254.65 points or 1.24% to 20,532.99.