Markets fail to hold opening gains to trade in red in early deals; TCS’ Q1 result eyed

Indian equity benchmarks made a slightly positive start on Thursday but failed to hold momentum and slipped below neutral lines and are trading lower with marginal cut in early deals as U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his tariff campaign, sending letters targeting six additional countries - Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Brunei, Moldova, and the Philippines - with fresh import duties ranging from 20-30 percent. Though, downside remained capped as traders took note of report that Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah focused on imparting a new momentum to the bilateral ties. The two leaders held discussions on further strengthening bilateral ties, including in the areas of defence, maritime security, digital technology & UPI, agriculture, health and pharma, energy and critical minerals.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly higher, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as traders were optimistic about an end to the tariff uncertainty after US President Donald Trump made it clear that he will not extend the August 1 deadline for trade deals, though he gets aggressive with tariff imposition. They were also optimistic about a potential trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union. Back home, tech and IT stocks remained in focus ahead of TCS’ Q1 result to be out later in the day. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 83413.64, down by 122.44 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 83404.83 and 83742.28. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.53%, Metal up by 0.45%, Utilities up by 0.45%, Power up by 0.34% and Industrials up by 0.24%, while TECK down by 0.48%, Healthcare down by 0.40%, Auto down by 0.33%, IT down by 0.32% and FMCG down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 0.79%, Power Grid up by 0.55%, Trent up by 0.53%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.50% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.49%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 0.79%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.72%, Tata Motors down by 0.69%, Infosys down by 0.50% and HCL Technologies down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that free trade agreements (FTAs) with developed markets such as Australia, UAE and UK will provide greater market access for the domestic agri sector. He added that despite the global slowdown, India's agriculture, animal husbandry and fishery exports now reached at Rs 4 lakh crore.

Besides, FTA with the four-nation European bloc, EFTA, was signed in March 2024, and it is expected to be implemented later this year. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

India implemented trade pacts with Australia and the UAE in 2022. The trade pact with the UK was announced in May. It is likely to be signed soon. Meanwhile, according to the commerce ministry data, the number of preferential certificates of origin issued by India under FTAs with Australia and the UAE rose by 19 per cent and 24.7 per cent respectively, in 2024-25.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25418.55, down by 57.55 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 25415.60 and 25524.05. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 0.82%, Eternal up by 0.79%, JIO Financial Services up by 0.65%, Trent up by 0.55% and Axis Bank up by 0.54%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.25%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.17%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.13%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.08% and Coal India down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted surged 115.65 points or 0.51% to 22,642.66, Jakarta Composite gained 52.86 points or 0.76% to 6,996.78, KOSPI strengthened 29.04 points or 0.93% to 3,162.78, Hang Seng advanced 22.47 points or 0.09% to 23,914.79, Straits Times rose 16.72 points or 0.41% to 4,074.54 and Shanghai Composite was up by 12.53 points or 0.36% to 3,505.58, while Nikkei 225 slipped 221.83 points or 0.56% to 39,599.45.