Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Wednesday, as traders were cautious following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision to keep the repo rate unchanged. After making a cautious start, soon markets traded in red and remained lower throughout the day, as sentiments remained subdued amid fresh tariff threats from US President Donald Trump.  

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

Continued foreign fund outflows: Sentiments remained downbeat as exchange data showed Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 22.48 crore worth of shares in Indian equities on Tuesday.

RBI keeps policy rate unchanged at 5.50%: Traders were cautious after the RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra-led MPC announced to keep the repo rates unchanged at 5.5 per cent. Real GDP projection was kept unchanged at 6.6 per cent For FY26.

Business confidence index rises to 149.4 in April-June: Traders took note of Business Expectations Survey of National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) report showed that the Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose sharply to 149.4 in the April-June period from 139.3 in the last quarter of 2024-25.   

Global front: European markets were trading in green, despite weak factory orders data from Germany and fresh tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump on pharma and chips. Asian markets ended mixed after weakening US services data fueled uncertainty about the Federal Reserve’s policy path.

The BSE Sensex ended at 80543.99, down by 166.26 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 80448.82 and 80834.43. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.00%, while Small cap index down by 1.14%. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.10% while, Healthcare down by 1.72%, IT down by 1.64%, Realty down by 1.55%, TECK down by 1.20%, and Industrials down by 0.83% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 1.85%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.93%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.89%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 0.58% and SBI up by 0.54%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.42%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.97%, Infosys down by 1.83%, HCL Technologies down by 1.64% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.62% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, India and Russia on August 5, 2025 have reaffirmed their commitment to boost bilateral defence cooperation during a meeting between Indian Ambassador Vinay Kumar and Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister Colonel-General Alexander Fomin. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, the Indian envoy called on Col-Gen Fomin, who is in charge of international defence cooperation, and the meeting was held in a warm and friendly atmosphere, customary for Russian-Indian ties.

The two sides discussed in detail the pertinent issues of bilateral interaction in the sphere of defence and confirmed their intent toward the further strengthening of relevant cooperation in the spirit of particularly privileged strategic partnership. The meeting took place amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to slap harsh sanctions on India for buying crude oil from Russia.

Meanwhile, from just 0.2 per cent before the Russia-Ukraine war to now accounting for 35-40 per cent of total crude imports, India's reliance on Russian oil has surged -- drawing fresh scrutiny with US President Donald Trump announcing a penalty on top of a 25 per cent tariff, or tax, on all goods going to the US. India historically bought most of its oil from the Middle East, including Iraq and Saudi Arabia. However, things changed when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The CNX Nifty ended at 24574.20, down by 75.35 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 24539.20 and 24671.40. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 2.23%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.90%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.79%, Trent up by 0.73% and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 0.66%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.42%, Sun Pharma down by 2.26%, Indusind Bank down by 1.93%, JIO Financial Services down by 1.89% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.78% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; France’s CAC rose 23.06 points or 0.3 to 7,644.10, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 22.65 points or 0.25 to 9,165.38 and Germany’s DAX gained 34.93 points or 0.15 to 23,881.00. 

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday as Federal Reserve rate cut hopes prevailed. While, investors shrugged off a weak lead from Wall Street, where renewed stagflation concerns were fueled by soft US economic data. Moreover, Chinese shares gained after US President Donald Trump said the United States was close to a trade deal with China. Investors are awaiting a slew of Chinese economic data and corporate results coming throughout the week.