Markets end marginally higher on Wednesday

Rising for the second straight day, Indian equity benchmarks ended marginally higher on Wednesday, driven by heavy buying in infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro. However, gains were limited on uncertainty over India-US trade deal after US President Donald Trump hinted at tariff rates of around 20-25 per cent ahead of the deadline of August 1. 

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

India's agri exports hit $51.9 billion: Minister of State for Agriculture Ram Nath Thakur has stated that the Centre is making efforts to increase exports of agriculture and allied commodities that stood at $51.9 billion last fiscal year. He mentioned that the APEDA under the Commerce Ministry is running various schemes to boost exports.

EFTA commits $100 billion investment under trade pact with India: The four European nations group EFTA has committed to invest $100 billion under a trade pact with India and these investments are expected to flow into sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing, and pharma.

Large states’ revenue growth to see uptick at 7-9% in FY26: Crisil Ratings in its research report has said that revenue growth of 18 large states, which account for over 90 per cent of the gross state domestic product, is likely to witness a marginal uptick at 7-9 per cent to Rs 40 lakh crore this financial year (FY26). 

Govt to focus on ensuring downward trajectory ratio of debt to GDP: Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that to reduce the interest-to-revenue ratio, the government's strategy is to focus on ensuring a downward trajectory ratio of debt to GDP. 

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in green as investors assessed mostly positive regional data and a slew of corporate earnings. Asian markets ended mixed as caution prevailed ahead of big U.S. tech earnings, the Fed and BoJ rate decisions, and the August 1 tariff deadline. Upcoming U.S. inflation and jobs data also remained on investors' radar. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 143.91 points or 0.18% to 81,481.86 and the CNX Nifty was up by 33.95 points or 0.14% to 24,855.05.  

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 81,618.96 and 81,187.06 respectively. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.17%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.31%, TECK up by 0.35%, IT up by 0.30%, FMCG up by 0.28% and Capital Goods up by 0.27%, while Realty down by 0.99%, Auto down by 0.64%, Telecom down by 0.42%, Energy down by 0.26% and Metal down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 4.87%, Sun Pharma up by 1.41%, NTPC up by 1.26%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.19% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.87%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.47%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.38%, Eternal down by 0.93%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.73% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri has said that India is witnessing a renewed surge in oil and gas exploration, particularly in offshore regions, underscoring the country’s vast untapped hydrocarbon potential.  Puri further said that the opening of nearly one million square kilometres of erstwhile 'No-Go' offshore areas in 2022 has been a landmark development. This move has unlocked significant exploration frontiers, especially in deepwater and frontier regions such as the Andaman-Nicobar (AN) offshore basin, and has been instrumental in triggering the current momentum in offshore activity.

While the favourable geology sets a strong foundation, Puri emphasized that the real breakthrough has come from the government’s strategic policy interventions and a new exploration approach. The revised strategy has enabled aggressive acquisition of seismic data, initiation of both stratigraphic and exploratory drilling, and increased engagement with international exploration partners, several of whom have shown keen interest in the newly accessible frontier blocks.

Minister further underscored that the current momentum in offshore and frontier exploration is a result of a series of progressive policy reforms introduced since 2014. These include the transition from the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) regime to the Revenue Sharing Contract (RSC) model in 2015, the launch of the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) and the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) in 2016, the establishment of the National Data Repository in 2017–18, and the deregulation of crude oil marketing in 2022. Together, these measures have fostered a liberal, investor-friendly exploration environment backed by targeted incentives for frontier exploration, stratigraphic drilling, and data acquisition.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 24,902.30 and 24,771.95. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 4.68%, Sun Pharma up by 1.51%, Tata Consumer Product up by 1.36%, NTPC up by 1.11% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.52%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.95%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.06%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.00% and Cipla down by 1.00% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 34.14 points or 0.43 to 7,891.50 and Germany’s DAX gained 44.33 points or 0.18 to 24,261.70, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 24.97 points or 0.27 to 9,111.35.

Asian markets ended mixed on Wednesday with caution ahead of big US tech earnings, the US Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan’s interest rate decisions, and the August 1 tariff deadline, while upcoming US inflation and jobs data also remained on investors' radar. Japanese shares declined after a powerful 8.7 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, triggering a tsunami that sent waves crashing into coastal areas and prompting alerts across the Pacific. Hong Kong shares fell after the US and Chinese officials concluded two days of talks in Stockholm without any meaningful breakthroughs. Chinese shares gained after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised China's 2025 economic growth up to 4.8% in an update to its World Economic Outlook from the 4.0% forecast in April. China's GDP growth in 2026 is also revised upward by 0.2% points to 4.2%, it said. However, the IMF warned that the global economy faced major risks including a potential rebound in tariff rates, geopolitical tensions and larger fiscal deficits.