Markets continue to trade below unchanged lines

Indian equity markets continue to trade below the unchanged lines amid cautiousness over U.S. President Donald Trump fresh tariff threats. The U.S. President has threatened to raise tariffs on Indian goods very substantially within 24 hours, citing India's continued purchases of Russian oil. Further, traders reacted to Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee to hold the repo rate steady at 5.5% and retain a neutral policy stance. However, losses remained capped as markets took support of National Council of Applied Economic Research’s Business Expectations Survey showing that the Business Confidence Index (rose sharply to 149.4 in the April-June period of 2025-26 from 139.3 in the last quarter of 2024-25.  

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in green as Fed rate cut hopes prevailed and U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States was close to a trade deal with China. All European equity markets were trading higher despite weak factory orders data from Germany and fresh tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump on pharma and chips.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80543.52, down by 166.73 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 80448.82 and 80834.43. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.03%, while Small cap index was down by 1.12%.

The lone gaining sectoral indiex on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.10%, while Healthcare down by 1.68%, Realty down by 1.56%, IT down by 1.40%, TECK down by 1.08% and Capital Goods down by 1.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.28%, Trent up by 1.06%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.63%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.56% and SBI up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries down by 1.92%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.63%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.37%, Infosys down by 1.37% and HCL Technologies down by 1.29% were the top losers.

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 is currently trading at 24567.85, down by 81.70 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 24544.15 and 24671.40. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 2.32%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.67%, Trent up by 0.99%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.64% and Bharat Electronics up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.23%, Indusind Bank down by 2.04%, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries down by 2.00%, JIO Financial Services down by 1.97% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.73% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 252.46 points or 0.62 to 40,802.00, Straits Times rose 12.9 points or 0.31 to 4,221.48, Shanghai Composite strengthened 16.39 points or 0.45 to 3,633.99 and Jakarta Composite gained 12.72 points or 0.17 to 7,527.91, while Hang Seng declined 57.53 points or 0.23 to 24,845.00 and Taiwan Weighted lost 213.23 points or 0.91 to 23,447.36.

All European equity markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 23.12 points or 0.25 to 9,165.85, France’s CAC rose 16.06 points or 0.21 to 7,637.10 and Germany’s DAX gained 45.83 points or 0.19 to 23,891.90.