Key indices end marginally in green on Tuesday

Indian equity benchmarks ended marginally in green on Tuesday, helped by a rally in blue-chip bank stocks and buying by domestic institutional investors. Markets started on a positive note, supported by favourable global cues and anticipation surrounding the upcoming earnings season. However, profit-taking at higher levels dragged the barometers from the day's high levels. 

Some of the important factors in trade:

Foreign capital outflows: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 313.77 crore on a net basis on Monday, according to exchange data.  

Tariff volatility overturns trade: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that trade calculations are being overturned by tariff volatility globally. His remarks on tariff volatility come amid a downturn in ties between New Delhi and Washington after US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duty for India's purchase of Russian crude oil. 

World Bank raises India growth forecast to 6.5%: The World Bank has raised India's growth forecast for the current fiscal to 6.5 per cent from 6.3 per cent estimated earlier, and said the country is expected to remain fastest-growing major economy, underpinned by continued strength in consumption growth. 

Auto stocks in watch: Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has said that passenger vehicle retail sales shot up 35 per cent year-on-year during the nine-day Navratri period this year, helping the overall registrations grow 6 per cent in September 2025, as offtakes remained muted in the first 21 days of the month and only took off after the roll-out of new GST rates on September 22, 2025. 

Global front: European markets were trading higher even as a deepening political crisis in France and weak factory orders data from Germany. Asian markets ended mostly higher as traders have reinforced bets on an additional rate cut by the U.S. Fed this October amid the ongoing government shutdown in the U.S. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 136.63 points or 0.17% to 81,926.75 and the CNX Nifty was up by 30.65 points or 0.12% to 25,108.30.      

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 82,309.56 and 81,787.48 respectively. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.   

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.45%, while Small cap index was down by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.13%, Realty up by 1.09%, Oil & Gas up by 0.47%, Energy up by 0.47% and Consumer Durables up by 0.28%, while FMCG down by 0.49%, Metal down by 0.29%, IT down by 0.25%, Bankex down by 0.16% and Basic Materials down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 1.40%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.40%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.99%, Power Grid Corporation up by 0.92% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.13%, Tata Motors down by 2.01%, Trent down by 1.78%, Infosys down by 1.29% and SBI down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India and Qatar will soon finalise the contours to negotiate a free trade agreement (FTA) and the pact is expected to be concluded by the middle or third quarter of next year. He said ‘I would think that sometime by the middle of next year, or third quarter of next year, we will be able to finalise an FTA, if not earlier’. Qatar is an important trading partner of India in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with bilateral trade of over $14.15 billion in 2024-25. GCC members are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India already has a trade pact with the UAE. A similar deal is likely to be signed with Oman soon.

Goyal said that he held discussions with Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal Al Thani, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Qatar on trade related issues. He said ‘We have discussed that we should quickly launch FTA negotiations. We are discussing the contours of terms of reference and once we finalise that, the Qatar Minister and I have discussed that we will fast-track it so that trade and business can double by 2030 from $14 billion currently to $30 billion’. In a free trade pact, two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on maximum goods traded between them. They also ease norms to promote trade in services and attract investments.

The trade relationship with Qatar remains heavily skewed toward energy imports, with petroleum crude and gas products making up nearly 90 per cent of India's total imports from Qatar. India's exports to Qatar totalled $1.68 billion, while imports surged to $12.46 billion, producing a substantial trade deficit of $10.78 billion in the last fiscal. Key energy components imported by India from Qatar include liquefied natural gas, liquefied butanes, liquefied propane, petroleum crude, and other petroleum products. The other imports from the Middle East nation include fertilisers, organic chemicals, plastic raw materials, aluminium and aluminium products, dye intermediates, and inorganic chemicals.

India's exports of $1.68 billion to Qatar reflected mixed trends across sectors, with industrial products, food items, and machinery dominating the basket. In 2024-25, it included products of iron and steel, rice, gold and precious metal jewellery, processed minerals, motor vehicles/cars, petroleum products, electrical machinery, electronics, buffalo meat, and sugar. India received $1.53 billion in foreign direct investment from Qatar from April 2000 to June 2025.

The CNX Nifty touched high and low of 25,220.90 and 25,076.30 respectively. There were 22 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.  

The top gainers on Nifty were JIO Financial Services up by 1.42%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.35%, HCL Technologies up by 1.26%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.23% and Eicher Motors up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.04%, Axis Bank down by 2.04%, Trent down by 1.93%, Tata Consumer Product down by 1.59% and Hindalco Industries down by 1.25% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 12.76 points or 0.13% to 9,491.90, France’s CAC rose 14.52 points or 0.18% to 7,986.30 and Germany’s DAX gained 53.31 points or 0.22% to 24,431.60.

Asian markets ended mostly higher in thin trade on Tuesday as many regional markets, including China, Hong Kong and South Korea remained closed for holiday. Market sentiments strengthened by Wall Street’s gains overnight after OpenAI announced plans for a 1GW data centre using AMD's MI45 chips starting in 2026, even as the US government shutdown extended through its sixth day. Japan's Nikkei hits a new record high amid optimism over Japan's incoming Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi. Meanwhile, investors cheered data that showed Japanese household spending rose at a faster pace than expected in August.