Indian equity markets added gains in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding gains of around half percent, led by strong buying in Metal and Consumer Durables stocks. Positive cues from other Asian markets also aided sentiments. Traders were optimistic, as Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that the Indian economy has continued to show resilience amid global geopolitical and economic challenges, with strong fundamentals and growing global confidence in India.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Japan posted a current account surplus of 4.681 trillion yen in March. That beat expectations for a surplus of 3.879 trillion yen and was up from 3.933 trillion yen in February. Imports were up 10.0 percent on year at 9.991 trillion yen and exports climbed an annual 11.7 percent to 10.822 trillion yen for a trade surplus of 830.5 billion yen.
Back home, pharma sector stocks were in watch, as the rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has showed that the Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) sustained double-digit growth in the month of April 2026, rising by 10.1% year on year (Y-o-Y) in the reported month.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74880.81, up by 321.57 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 74134.48 and 74981.34. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.86%, Consumer Durables up by 2.69%, Telecom up by 2.38%, Basic Materials up by 2.02% and Industrials up by 1.32%, while IT down by 0.48%, Auto down by 0.31%, Utilities down by 0.15% and Power down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 4.68%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.68%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.30%, Tata Steel up by 2.15% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.85%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.11%, NTPC down by 1.54%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.07%, Infosys down by 0.80% and Sun Pharma down by 0.73% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, at a time when the world is undergoing structural changes due to geopolitical crisis and tariff wars, the NITI Aayog Member Rajiv Gauba pointed that the emphasis is shifted from pure efficiency to resilience of supply chain and India should be ‘able to replicate the Apple story multiple times over’ as it competes with other countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico to become a global production hub. He added that the government will continue with the reform agenda, while industry needs to focus on some important issues.
He stressed on prioritising investment in R&D, pointing the lower gross expenditure on R&D in India. He noted that India’s gross expenditure on R&D has remained stuck at around 0.7% of GDP, it is well below the global average of 2.3% and much less done by countries like South Korea and Israel. Further, 60% of this 0.7% is funded by the government. He also called on the industry to focus on skilling of manpower, saying the government alone cannot do it and the rise of industry 4.0, AI and automation have made workforce skilling a matter of survival.
With the country entering into free trade pacts with other nations, Gauba has exhorted Indian industry to take up the challenge of global competition. He noted that Indian industry needs to shed its instinct for protectionism as these pacts will open vast new markets to Indian exporters at same time opening the Indian for foreign players. He added that the government of India has entered into landmark trade agreements with the UK, EU and New Zealand, many others are on the anvil.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23497.95, up by 118.40 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 23262.55 and 23518.70. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 4.73%, Hindalco up by 3.76%, Adani Enterprises up by 3.30%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.81% and Bharat Electronics up by 2.34%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.14%, Power Grid down by 1.98%, NTPC down by 1.49%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.24% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.08% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI increased 200.86 points or 2.56% to 7,844.01, Hang Seng advanced 24.09 points or 0.09% to 26,372.00, Shanghai Composite strengthened 28.06 points or 0.67% to 4,242.55, Nikkei 225 surged 479.43 points or 0.76% to 63,222.00 and Straits Times rose 50.01 points or 1% to 4,996.01, while Taiwan Weighted lost 523.82 points or 1.27% to 41,374.50 and Jakarta Composite plunged 119.1 points or 1.77% to 6,739.80.
