Key gauges continue to trade lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in morning deals, in line with weak global cues, continuous foreign fund outflows and selling pressure in IT, TECK and Auto stocks. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 655.59 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Traders remained cautious as Ramesh Chand, member of government think tank Niti Aayog, stated that India's agriculture sector growth is estimated to be lower at 4 per cent in the 2025-26 financial year compared to the rate of 4.6 per cent recorded in the previous fiscal. Separately, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic have held discussions on the outstanding issues related to the proposed trade pact. Maros is leading a delegation of EU officials for the trade talks. These meetings are important as both sides are eager to conclude the negotiations as early as possible. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as investor sentiment turned cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting outcome, which is expected to provide cues on the interest rate trajectory. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84614.70, down by 487.99 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 84382.96 and 84889.67. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.43%, while Small cap index was down by 0.36%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.12% and Capital Goods up by 0.05%, while IT down by 1.47%, TECK down by 1.07%, Auto down by 0.83%, Consumer Durables down by 0.75% and Consumer Discretionary down by 0.60% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 1.21%, Eternal up by 0.89%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.53%, SBI up by 0.28% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.16%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.45%, TCS down by 1.63%, Infosys down by 1.56%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.41% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic have held discussions on the outstanding issues related to the proposed trade pact. Maros is leading a delegation of EU officials for the trade talks. These meetings are important as both sides are eager to conclude the negotiations as early as possible.

Goyal stated ‘Held a productive meeting with EU Trade and Economic Security Commissioner, Mr. Maros Sefcovic. We discussed the progress on the India-EU FTA and explored ways to resolve the issues to further advance the negotiations.’ he added looking forward to continued cooperation towards a mutually beneficial FTA. Further, Sefcovic said ‘in India for a two-day marathon of meetings with Piyush Goyal to advance our trade and investment negotiations.’

In June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive FTA (free trade agreement), an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographical indications after a gap of over eight years. It was stalled in 2013 due to differences on the level of opening up markets.
India's bilateral trade in goods with the EU was $136.53 billion in 2024-25 (exports worth $75.85 billion and imports worth $60.68 billion), making it the largest trading partner for goods. The EU market accounts for about 17 per cent of India's total exports, and the bloc's exports to India constitute 9 per cent of its total overseas shipments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25796.60, down by 163.95 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 25728.00 and 25890.95. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 1.06%, Eternal up by 0.63%, Grasim Industries up by 0.45%, SBI up by 0.22% and Interglobe Aviation up by 0.17%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.77%, Infosys down by 1.67%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.63%, JIO Financial Serv. down by 1.58% and TCS down by 1.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 34.94 points or 0.07% to 50,547.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 43.07 points or 0.15% to 28,260.71, Jakarta Composite plunged 36.98 points or 0.42% to 8,673.72, Shanghai Composite weakened 5.93 points or 0.15% to 3,918.15, KOSPI dropped 16.06 points or 0.39% to 4,138.79 and Hang Seng declined 213.36 points or 0.83% to 25,552.00.

On the flip side, Straits Times rose 11.88 points or 0.26% to 4,518.96.