Key gauges trade marginally higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks were trading marginally higher in morning deals, led by gains in Utilities, Oil & Gas and Auto stocks. Traders took support with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Nagesh Kumar stated that the Indian economy is growing at a robust pace and will not face any challenge in achieving a growth rate upwards of 6.5% in the current financial year. Moreover, he said that the Indian economy, among all economies, continues to remain a bright spot for the world. Some support also came as the Labour Ministry has indicated that the employment-linked incentive scheme, PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana, will come into effect from August 01, 2025. The scheme aims to incentivise the creation of more than 3.5 crore jobs over two years, with an outlay of Rs 99,446 crore. However, gains remain capped amidst ongoing uncertainty regarding the India-US trade negotiations, Q1FY26 corporate results, and growing FII withdrawals. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street, amid optimism that a number of trade deals will be worked out prior to US President Donald Trump's August 1 deadline after the U.S. and the European Union ratified a trade agreement over the weekend, with 15 percent tariffs on most European exports, including cars. Back home, stocks related to Chemicals sector remained in focus as Chemicals exporters body CHEMEXCIL stated that the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK will help boost the country's chemical exports and domestic manufacturing as a number of product categories from the segment will enjoy duty-free access in Britain. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81521.54, up by 58.45 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 81093.51 and 81553.47. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 0.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.85%, Oil & Gas up by 0.80%, Auto up by 0.76%, FMCG up by 0.74% and Energy up by 0.72%, while Realty down by 1.82%, Bankex down by 0.53%, TECK down by 0.42%, IT down by 0.28% and Metal down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.29%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.28%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.17%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.96% and ICICI Bank up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 6.24%, TCS down by 0.88%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.81%, Titan Company down by 0.64% and Bharat Electronics down by 0.37% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Nagesh Kumar has said that the Indian economy is growing at a robust pace and will not face any challenge in achieving a growth rate upwards of 6.5% in the current financial year. Moreover, he said that the Indian economy, among all economies, continues to remain a bright spot for the world.

He stated ‘Actually, more than a third of global economies are under the debt crisis...The industrialised economies are facing a lot of pressure, high inflation and the slowdown of economic growth.’ But because the Indian economy is more driven by domestic consumption and domestic investment, and less by export or trade, he said India continues to grow very robustly.

He said ‘I do not see any challenges in the Indian economy achieving upwards of 6.5% kind of growth in the current year and the following year. And, you know, hopefully this kind of growth momentum will continue for coming years but also be over time strengthened to 7-7.5%.’ The Indian economy is estimated to have grown at 6.5% in the previous fiscal year. As per the Reserve Bank of India’s projections, the country’s economy will expand at the same rate in the current fiscal year as well.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24870.90, up by 33.90 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 24732.70 and 24889.20. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 2.93%, Cipla up by 2.86%, Grasim Industries up by 1.66%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.40% and Tata Motors up by 1.27%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 6.23%, Wipro down by 2.43%, Titan Company down by 1.02%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.00% and TCS down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 63.14 points or 0.27% to 23,427.52, Hang Seng advanced 91.65 points or 0.36% to 25,480.00, KOSPI increased 7.59 points or 0.24% to 3,203.64 and Jakarta Composite gained 99.01 points or 1.31% to 7,642.51.

On the global front, Shanghai Composite weakened 2.98 points or 0.08% to 3,590.68, Straits Times fell 11.29 points or 0.27% to 4,249.77 and Nikkei 225 slipped 442.23 points or 1.07% to 41,014.00.