Key gauges trade flat with positive bias in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks were trading flat with positive bias in morning deals, amid gains in auto and healthcare stocks. Traders took some support with Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal stating that the free trade agreement between India and the EU is 'truly a mother of all deals' as it brings together nearly one-fourth of the global economy. Some support also came as exchange data showed foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 69.45 crore on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to exempt non-deposit-taking non-banking financial companies, with an asset size of less than Rs 1,000 crore, from registration and classify them as Type-I NBFCs with an aim to reduce compliance requirements. On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher ahead of the US jobs data on Wednesday post weak retail sales reinforcing bets that the US Fed would cut rates later this year.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84314.08, up by 40.16 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 84146.37 and 84487.34. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.81%, Healthcare up by 0.66%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.65%, Consumer Durables up by 0.64% and FMCG up by 0.10%, while Power down by 0.61%, IT down by 0.61%, TECK down by 0.46%, PSU down by 0.40% and Utilities down by 0.39% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.91%, Titan Company up by 1.59%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.89%, SBI up by 0.42% and Interglobe Aviation up by 0.13%. On the flip side, Trent down by 1.23%, HCL Technologies down by 0.86%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.80%, ITC down by 0.79% and TCS down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer said that India has already started winding down its purchases of Russian oil, while stepping up its energy imports from America and other sources. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a discussion recently, during which both nations agreed on a framework for an Interim Trade Agreement on reciprocal trade and reaffirmed their commitment to broader US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations.

Trump also agreed to remove the punitive 25 per cent tariff on imports from India in recognition of India’s commitment to stop purchasing Russian oil. Greer stated that the U.S. has discussed India's oil purchases from Venezuela and added that prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Indians did not really procure Russian oil. 

It's really an artefact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the discounted oil they could get. Moreover, he said that India was refining oil from Russia and selling it to European countries. He added ‘I mean, Europe and India essentially were underwriting Russia's war in Ukraine’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25961.65, up by 26.50 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 25909.85 and 26009.40. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 6.53%, Apollo Hospital up by 5.03%, Max Healthcare up by 2.55%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.28% and Titan Company up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.87%, Hindalco down by 1.66%, ONGC down by 1.36%, Trent down by 1.03% and ITC down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading higher; Taiwan Weighted added 552.96 points or 1.67% to 33,625.93, Jakarta Composite gained 130.15 points or 1.6% to 8,261.89, Shanghai Composite strengthened 12.85 points or 0.31% to 4,141.22, KOSPI increased 70.55 points or 1.33% to 5,372.24, Hang Seng advanced 116.85 points or 0.43% to 27,300.00 and Straits Times rose 16.46 points or 0.33% to 4,980.71.