Markets trade firm amid US-India trade talks, Bihar exit polls

Indian equity benchmarks made a gap-up start on Wednesday and were trading firm in early deals amid optimism over a possible trade deal with Washington. Sensex garnered gains of around 550 points, while Nifty hovering over 25,800 mark, amid board-based buying in all the sector indices, led by Oil & Gas and  IT counters. Investor sentiments also improved after a private report noted that Bihar exit polls indicated a likely win for the incumbent NDA alliance. Some optimism came as the government data showed that Net direct tax collection has grown 7 per cent so far this fiscal year to over Rs 12.92 lakh crore on higher corporate tax mop-up and slower refunds. Besides, Crisil’s latest Financial Conditions Index (FCI), which rose to -0.3 in October from -0.6 in September, showed that domestic financial conditions registered marked improvement in October amid heightened optimism over India’s economic output. Meanwhile, investors were looking ahead to the release CPI inflation data for October 2025 later in the day.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher amid optimism about an end to the record-setting U.S. government shutdown of 42 days and expectations of the US Fed cutting interest-rate next month. Traders largely shrugged off worries about the economic impact of the shutdown.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84419.84, up by 548.52 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 84166.75 and 84426.49. There were 26 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.33%, while Small cap index was up by 0.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.26%, IT up by 1.21%, Auto up by 1.21%, TECK up by 1.16% and Energy up by 1.11%, while there was no loser on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 1.47%, Eternal up by 1.46%, TCS up by 1.43%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.28% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.22%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.05% and Bharat Electronics down by 0.05% were the few losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said India wants a fair, equitable, balanced trade deal with the US and it will not compromise on the interests of farmers, fishermen, and the dairy sector. He said India and the US are negotiating a good proposed bilateral trade agreement. He said ‘We are working for a good trade deal in the interest of India’. He also said India is looking for new markets such as Russia for the country's fishery sector, which is facing issues due to the steep tariffs in the US. India and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement. So far, five rounds of talks have been completed. Both sides have announced to finalise the first tranche of the deal by fall of 2025.

A team of Indian officials, headed by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, was in Washington last month to hold trade talks with their US counterparts. The three-day talks ended on October 17. Negotiations for the pact are important, as relations between the two countries have been under severe strain since the US President Donald Trump administration imposed a steep 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods. It includes a 25 per cent additional import duty for buying Russian crude oil.

The proposed pact aims to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 from the current $191 billion. The US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at $131.84 billion ($86.5 billion exports). It accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in the country's total merchandise trade.

According to commerce ministry data, India's merchandise exports to the US declined 11.93 per cent to $5.46 billion in September due to the high tariffs imposed by Washington, while imports increased 11.78 per cent to $3.98 billion during the month. US President Donald Trump has said the US is ‘pretty close’ to reaching a ‘fair trade deal’ with India, adding that he will lower the tariffs imposed on Indian goods at ‘some point’. This is the second time in less than two weeks that the US president held out hope to seal the proposed bilateral trade deal with India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25844.75, up by 149.80 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 25781.15 and 25851.20. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 2.78%, ONGC up by 1.94%, Eternal up by 1.52%, TCS up by 1.51% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.48%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 0.85%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.51%, JSW Steel down by 0.44%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.41% and Apollo Hospital Enterprise down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted jumped 233.96 points or 0.84% to 28,018.91, Hang Seng surged 188.59 points or 0.71% to 26,885.00, Jakarta Composite rose 55.38 points or 0.66% to 8,421.90, KOSPI increased 31.13 points or 0.76% to 4,137.52 and Straits Times added 16.73 points or 0.37% to 4,558.93. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 slipped 102.93 points or 0.2% to 50,740.00 and Shanghai Composite weakened 9.41 points or 0.24% to 3,993.35.