Markets trade flat with positive bias in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made a positive start on Wednesday as Japan securing a trade deal with the US propelled a rally in Asian markets, which in turn added to optimistic trend in domestic equities. Soon, markets trimmed their opening gains and are trading slightly above neutral lines in early deals. Continued foreign fund outflows dented domestic sentiments. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,548.92 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Traders took note of Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary’s statement that the central government does not foresee any revenue shortfall at this stage and aims to achieve the targets fixed in the Budget Estimates for 2025-26. Besides, the cabinet approved the free trade agreement between India and the UK, which will be signed in London on July 24, 2025.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading higher, boosted by Japan's Nikkei surging more than 3 percent after U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of a ‘massive’ trade deal with Japan eased concerns about the tariff war. Sentiment improved following global trade developments as markets await potential trade deals between the US and its partners ahead of the August 1 deadline.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82322.90, up by 136.09 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 82307.86 and 82475.45. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.34%, while Small cap index was down by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.87%, Metal up by 0.26%, Energy up by 0.26%, Utilities up by 0.17% and Oil & Gas up by 0.14%, while Realty down by 2.50%, Capital Goods down by 0.55%, FMCG down by 0.37%, Industrials down by 0.33% and Consumer Durables down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.41%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.62%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.70%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.64% and Eternal up by 0.57%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 0.68%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.59%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.56%, Trent down by 0.46% and Asian Paints down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that the Central government does not foresee any revenue shortfall at this stage and aims to achieve the fiscal deficit targets fixed in the Budget Estimates for 2025-26. As per the Budget, the Centre has estimated the fiscal deficit for 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of GDP, amounting to Rs 15.69 lakh crore.

He said the Central government supports state finances through Finance Commission grants, Centrally Sponsored Schemes, and Special Assistance as loans to states for capital expenditure. He said total resources being transferred to the states, including the devolution of state’s share in taxes, grants/loans and releases under Centrally Sponsored Schemes, etc, in Budget Estimates for 2025-26 is about Rs 25.01 lakh crore.

He further said insurers are required to decide on the request for cashless authorisation within 1 hour of receipt of such request and grant final authorisation within 3 hours of the receipt of discharge authorisation request from the hospital as per IRDAI Master Circular on Health Insurance Business dated May 29, 2024. However, the data related to the average time taken by insurance companies and third-party administrators (TPAs) for the claim settlement is not maintained by IRDAI.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25096.90, up by 36.00 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 25094.55 and 25149.85. There were 32 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.54%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.63%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.06%, JIO Financial Serv. up by 0.90% and Adani Enterprises up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.09%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.67%, Titan Company down by 0.64%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.63% and Trent down by 0.55% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 1282.99 points or 3.23% to 41,057.91, Hang Seng jumped 283.45 points or 1.12% to 25,413.48, Taiwan Weighted soared 222.07 points or 0.97% to 23,209.99, Jakarta Composite strengthened 57.17 points or 0.78% to 7,401.91, Shanghai Composite rose 26.72 points or 0.74% to 3,608.58, Straits Times added 17.49 points or 0.42% to 4,225.75 and KOSPI was up by 6.10 points or 0.19% to 3,176.04.