Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended near day’s high points on Wednesday, with both the Nifty and Sensex closing over half a percent higher, supported by positive sentiments around the ongoing Q1FY26 earnings season. Markets made a positive start and sustained their upward momentum throughout the session, buoyed by strong global cues as President Donald Trump’s announcement of new trade agreements with Japan and the Philippines, fueling hopes for broader progress in international trade. 

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

Cabinet approves FTA between India and UK: Traders took some support as the cabinet approved the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK, which will be signed in London on July 24, 2025. The pact, officially called as comprehensive economic and trade agreement, will be signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to London. 

India submits ratification document of TEPA with EFTA bloc: Sentiments remained upbeat as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India submitted the ratification document of the free trade agreement with the four-European nation bloc EFTA to Norway. The pact, officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), will be implemented from October 1, 2025.

806 applications approved so far under PLI schemes for 14 sectors: Traders also took a note of Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada’s statement that as many as 806 applications have been approved under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes across 14 sectors as on date. 

Global front: European markets were trading in green, while Asian markets ended in green, as prospects of a trade agreement between the U.S. and EU increased after U.S. President Donald Trump announced trade deals with Japan and Philippines.

The BSE Sensex ended at 82726.64, up by 539.83 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 82279.73 and 82786.43. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.24%, while Small cap index up by 0.05%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.14%, Auto up by 0.86%, Bankex up by 0.75%, TECK up by 0.74% and Healthcare up by 0.70%, while Realty down by 2.60%, FMCG down by 0.46% and Capital Goods down by 0.31% were the few losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.55%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.05%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.69%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.15% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.97%, Infosys down by 0.90%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.71%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.55% and ITC down by 0.26% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Reflecting deepening of financial inclusion and sustained financial literacy initiatives, the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has showed that the Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index), which captures the extent of financial inclusion across the country, improved to 67.0 in March 2025 from 64.2 in March 2024.

The annual FI-Index was first published in August 2021 for the fiscal ending March 2021. Index for the year ending March 2025 has since been compiled. All the three sub-indices of the FI-Index - access, usage and quality - witnessed growth in FY25. Improvement in FI-Index in FY25 is contributed by Usage and Quality dimensions.

The FI-Index has been conceptualised as a comprehensive index incorporating details of banking, investments, insurance, postal as well as the pension sector in consultation with Government and respective sectoral regulators. The index captures information on various aspects of financial inclusion in a single value ranging between 0 and 100, where 0 represents complete financial exclusion and 100 indicates full financial inclusion.

The CNX Nifty ended at 25219.90, up by 159.00 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 25085.50 and 25233.50. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.48%, Shriram Finance up by 2.17%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.94%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.75% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer Products down by 2.05%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.18%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.72%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.64% and Grasim Industries down by 0.50% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; France’s CAC rose 105.86 points or 1.37% to 7,850.27, Germany’s DAX gained 205.61 points or 0.86% to 24,247.51 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 54.69 points or 0.61% to 9,078.50.

Asian markets ended higher on Wednesday as latest trade deal announcements spurred expectations of further trade agreements as the August 1 deadline approaches. The largest ever US trade deal with Japan features a 15% tariff on Japanese exports and includes a commitment from Tokyo to invest $550 billion in the United States and open its markets for American vehicles, rice, and other agricultural goods. Trump claimed that the US would receive 90% of profits from the agreement and that the pact could generate hundreds of thousands of American jobs. Trump said the United States and the Philippines have finalized a new trade agreement with zero tariffs on US goods, while Filipino exports to the US will face a 19% tariff. Investors also cheered after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell need not resign before his term ends in May but he has a chance to cement his legacy by reforming the Fed's non-monetary functions. Seoul shares rose, led by technology shares ahead of earnings results from the so-called Magnificent Seven companies. But investors were cautious ahead of the last-minute talks with the United States on its sweeping tariff scheme. Chinese shares ended flat after reports that the United States and China will meet in Stockholm next week to discuss extending their tariff truce.