Sensex, Nifty trade higher after cautious start on value buying

Indian equity benchmarks made a cautious start on Friday following mixed cues from Asian counterparts and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remained cautious amid escalation in hostilities between Israel and Iran after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered intensified strikes on Iran, targeting 'strategic' and 'government' sites in Tehran. Sensex and Nifty soon gained traction and are trading higher with decent gains in early deals on account of value buying after recent choppy sessions of trading. Foreign fund inflows aided domestic sentiments. According to the NSDL data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in Indian equities during the first half of June 2025, investing over Rs 4,685 crore, continuing their positive stance from May, when they had infused Rs 4,028 crore.

On the sectoral front, telecom stocks are in focus as Trai data showed that the telecom industry recorded a 1.7% sequential growth in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) in the last quarter of FY25, with the impact of last year’s tariff increases waning. Vodafone Idea and Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) saw sequential declines in their mobile service revenues. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81615.98, up by 254.11 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 81323.20 and 81715.63. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.29%, while Small cap index was up by 0.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.13%, Realty up by 1.05%, PSU up by 0.66%, Utilities up by 0.55% and Power up by 0.34%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.23% and IT down by 0.19% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.81%, Eternal up by 1.24%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.05%, Power Grid up by 0.93% and Trent up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.15%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.57%, Titan Company down by 0.32%, Infosys down by 0.32% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ratings agency CRISIL in its report has said that headline inflation based on the CPI fell to 2.8 per cent in May, 2025, which is a good omen for the economy. According to CRISIL, a decline in food inflation is pulling down the headline retail inflation, but core inflation (excluding food and fuel) is edging up. Although remaining below the decadal trend, the core inflation has been now above four per cent for four months in a row. It said a persistent rise in core inflation can put pressure on headline inflation.

According to the ratings firm, rising core inflation is indicative of strengthening domestic demand in the economy. But a deep dive into core inflation suggests that most of its recent rise is tied to global economic volatility rather than domestic factors. It said gold prices react to global and not domestic signals. Although gold carries a small weight in the headline CPI (1.1 per cent of the total index), inclusion of it in the core CPI inflation distorts domestic price signals.

Gold carries a higher weight in India's core inflation index than it does elsewhere. Other prominent central banks also include gold in their core inflation index, but its weight is significantly lower than in India, limiting its impact on their core inflation measure. In India, a higher weight for gold is possibly due to its higher share in consumption compared to other countries. The agency said keeping out gold prevents misinterpretations of core CPI signals.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24872.15, up by 78.90 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 24783.65 and 24900.25. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.63%, Eternal up by 1.25%, Coal India up by 1.12%, JIO Financial Services up by 1.09% and Power Grid up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.37%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.12%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.22%, Wipro down by 0.67% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng jumped 266.85 points or 1.15% to 23,504.59, KOSPI rose 36.99 points or 1.24% to 3,014.73, Straits Times gained 3.77 points or 0.1% to 3,897.95 and Shanghai Composite was up by 2.72 points or 0.08% to 3,364.83. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted lost 81.4 points or 0.37% to 21,922.10, Jakarta Composite plunged 64.71 points or 0.93% to 6,903.93 and Nikkei 225 was down by 47.55 points or 0.12% to 38,440.79.