Markets trade under pressure in early deals amid weak global cues

Indian equity benchmarks made a negative start on Wednesday and were trading under pressure in early deals amid renewed trade tensions and U.S. President Donald Trump blaming China and India during his UN General Assembly address, calling the two nations the primary funders of the Ukraine war. Foreign fund outflows continued to weight on market sentiments. Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 3,551.19 crore on a net basis on Tuesday. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid rising ambiguity over the outlook for interest rates after US Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave little indication about the future path of interest rates. Renewed trade tensions with the United States and the escalating tensions in Europe and the Middle East are weighing on market sentiment.

Back home, cement stocks were in focus as ICRA indicated that the cement volumes have increased by 8.5% in in first five months of FY2026 due to strong demand from the housing and infrastructure segments, despite the early onset of the monsoons in few regions.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81729.53, down by 372.57 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 81701.52 and 82045.47. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.40%, while Small cap index was down by 0.10%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 0.95%, TECK down by 0.83%, IT down by 0.81%, Utilities down by 0.72% and Power down by 0.72%, while there was no gainer on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.00%, Trent up by 0.33%, NTPC up by 0.32%, Tata Steel up by 0.29% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.28%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.87%, Tata Motors down by 1.63%, ICICI Bank down by 0.96%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.91% and HDFC Bank down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its latest 'World Economic Outlook' report has raised India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth by 40 bps to 6.7 per cent for fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26) from its earlier projection of 6.3 per cent in June -- driven by strong domestic demand and robust GST reforms. It also projected the country’s GDP growth at 6.2 per cent for FY27. It mentioned that in India, higher tariff rates will weigh on the export sector, but overall activity is anticipated to be supported by monetary and fiscal policy easing, including the reform to the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The report noted that the food price inflation has declined sharply in India, helped by strong domestic supply and export restrictions. It further said amongst the G20, China, India and Brazil face the highest increases in bilateral US tariff rates this year. Ongoing legal challenges and negotiations, and the risk of new tariffs on currently-exempt items, add to uncertainty about trade policies.

It also said global growth proved more resilient than expected in the first half of 2025, especially in many emerging markets. The OECD raised its growth forecast for the global economy to 3.2 per cent for this year but kept its 2026 forecast steady at 2.9 per cent, and said it expects global trade uncertainties sparked by U.S. tariffs will likely contract investment and trade in the second half of 2025.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25060.50, down by 109.00 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 25049.45 and 25149.85. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 0.98%, JSW Steel up by 0.41%, Eicher Motors up by 0.39%, NTPC up by 0.39% and Trent up by 0.37%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.07%, Tata Motors down by 1.58%, Wipro down by 1.37%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.33% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng surged 272.88 points or 1.03% to 26,432.00, Shanghai Composite strengthened 24.08 points or 0.63% to 3,845.91 and Jakarta Composite gained 4.07 points or 0.05% to 8,129.27. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted lost 94.19 points or 0.36% to 26,153.18, Nikkei 225 slipped 59.66 points or 0.13% to 45,434.00, KOSPI dropped 28.33 points or 0.81% to 3,457.86 and Straits Times was down by 9.9 points or 0.23% to 4,292.77.