Markets trade higher in early deals after cautious start

Indian equity benchmarks made a cautious start on Monday tracking mixed global cues. But, soon markets gained traction and were trading higher in early deals on account of value buying amid foreign fund inflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 4,581.34 crore on November 8, 2025. Some optimism came as Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran exuded confidence that economic growth would be upwards of 6.8% in FY26 driven by consumption boost provided by GST rate cut and income tax relief. Traders took note of the commerce ministry’s statement that the proposed FTA between India and New Zealand is expected to enhance trade flows, deepen investment linkages and strengthen supply-chain resilience. However, upside remained capped as RBI said that India's forex reserves dropped $5.62 billion to $689.73 billion for the week ended October 31.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher as traders cheer reports the U.S. Senate is nearing a potential deal to extend government funding after the record 40-day long US government shutdown. Back home, sugar stocks were in focus as Food Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the Centre has decided to allow export of 1.5 million tonne (MT) of sugar for the 2025-26 sugar season that started from October. Food Ministry has also decided to remove 50 per cent export duty on molasses.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 83450.20, up by 233.92 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 83197.67 and 83527.24. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.41%, while Small cap index was down by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.78%, Capital Goods up by 0.76%, Energy up by 0.75%, Metal up by 0.69% and Industrials up by 0.64%, while Telecom down by 0.06% and Consumer Discretionary down by 0.02% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles up by 1.13%, Infosys up by 1.09%, Asian Paints up by 1.00%, Reliance Industries up by 0.98% and Bharat Electronics up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Trent down by 6.12%, Power Grid down by 1.65%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.63%, Eternal down by 0.42% and SBI down by 0.35% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has exuded confidence that India’s economic growth would be upwards of 6.8 per cent in the current financial year (FY26) driven by consumption boost provided by GST rate cut and income tax relief. The Economic Survey tabled in parliament in January had projected real economic growth of 6.3-6.8 per cent for FY26. He noted that back in August, we were all concerned about whether we would even go towards the lower end of the 6-7 range. He added ‘Now I think there is a lot of comfort in saying that it would be definitely north of 6.5 and I am more comfortable saying even north of 6.8 but whether I will put a 7 handle in front of it, I will wait for the second quarter numbers to come out before I move even a notch higher’.

India recorded a 7.8 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal year mainly driven by a good showing by the farm sector, and also helped by services like trade, hotel, financial and real estate. The previous highest pace of growth in the country's GDP was recorded at 8.4 per cent during January-March 2024, as per the data. India remains the fastest-growing major economy, as China's GDP growth in the April-June period was 5.2 per cent.

Nageswaran further said the pace of growth would get a boost, if the bilateral trade deal between the US and India is concluded. He said ‘If by some chance, as we are still hoping, there is a resolution on the trade front, then the upward bias will become a mainstream forecast’. On the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the US, he said ‘hopefully done soon’ but did not give a specific timeframe. In absence of BTA, the US has imposed a steep tariff of 50 per cent on goods from India that took effect on August 27. The tariffs, among the highest in the world, include a 25 per cent penalty for buying crude oil from Russia.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25580.65, up by 88.35 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 25503.50 and 25591.45. There were 36 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 1.38%, Infosys up by 1.33%, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles up by 1.26%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.19% and ONGC up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Trent down by 6.37%, Power Grid down by 1.36%, Eicher Motors down by 1.02%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.94% and Max Healthcare Inst down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 483.63 points or 0.96% to 50,760.00, Taiwan Weighted jumped 207.46 points or 0.75% to 27,858.87, Hang Seng advanced 173.17 points or 0.66% to 26,415.00, KOSPI increased 119.02 points or 3.01% to 4,072.78 and Jakarta Composite gained 37.45 points or 0.45% to 8,432.04. On the other hand, Straits Times fell 27.89 points or 0.62% to 4,464.35 and Shanghai Composite was down by 1.3 points or 0.03% to 3,996.26.