Domestic indices erase gains in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices erased all gains and were trading in slightly red in late morning deals on account of selling in Bajaj Finance, Eternal, ICICI, Trent and HDFC Bank. Market participants remained on sidelines ahead of July’s domestic inflation data to be released later in the day.  Further, traders were cautious as Minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that the additional tariff announced by the US will impact about 55% of Indian exports to the world’s biggest economy.  On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up positions in Auto, Oil & Gas, IT, Energy and Utilities, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Capital Goods, Bankex, Industrials and Telecom.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors assessed the U.S.-China trade truce extension overnight that has allowed the world’s largest economies more room to negotiate a deal. Back home, in the stock specific development, HBL Engineering surged on winning Rs 54 crore order from West Central Railway.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80565.22, down by 38.86 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 80398.23 and 80997.67. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.02%, while Small cap index up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.91%, Oil & Gas up by 0.91%, IT up by 0.80%, Energy up by 0.65% and Utilities up by 0.61%, while Realty down by 0.81%, Capital Goods down by 0.79%, Bankex down by 0.43%, Industrials down by 0.24% and Telecom down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.78%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.77%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.47%, Tata Steel up by 1.20% and NTPC up by 1.07%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.67%, Eternal down by 1.00%, ICICI Bank down by 0.87%, Trent down by 0.85% and HDFC Bank down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid the US targeting Indian exports with additional tariffs, the Indian government is working to on measures to boost India's exports. The government is targeting 50 countries in regions such as the Middle East and Africa as these countries account for about 90 percent of India's exports. The commerce ministry is working on four pillars including export diversification, import substitution, and export competitiveness to support the country’s exports. The commerce ministry was already focusing on 20 countries and now 30 more have been included in the strategy.

In the month of June, India's exports remained flat at $35.14 billion due to global economic uncertainties. Meanwhile, for the same month country’s trade deficit narrowed to a four-month low of $18.78 billion. During April-June 2025-26, exports increased 1.92 percent to $112.17 billion, while imports rose 4.24 percent to $179.44 billion.

Recently, the US President Donald Trump had imposed 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods coming to US, along with an additional 25 percent tariffs, resulting in a total of 50 percent duties. The additional 25 percent levy has been marked as penalty for India purchasing Russian crude oil. These additional 25 percent tariffs will take effect from August 27, 2025.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24573.55, down by 11.50 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 24530.75 and 24702.60. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.56%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.86%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.86%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.52% and Tata Steel up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.77%, Grasim Industries down by 1.52%, Eternal down by 1.03%, ICICI Bank down by 0.90% and Hindalco down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Nikkei 225 surged 913.52 points or 2.18% to 42,734.00, Taiwan Weighted added 69.79 points or 0.29% to 24,205.29, Jakarta Composite gained 139.8 points or 1.8% to 7,745.73 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 16.5 points or 0.45% to 3,664.05. However, KOSPI dropped 12.58 points or 0.39% to 3,194.19, Hang Seng declined 60.81 points or 0.24% to 24,846.00 and Straits Times fell 10.63 points or 0.25% to 4,222.15.