Indian equity markets added gains in afternoon session after reports indicated that the government is considering reduction in the taxes paid by foreign investors on the nation’s bonds, aimed at aligning policies with global norms and attract more foreign fund inflows. Some support also came as bargain hunters picked up stocks at lower level following the recent pullback made by the markets amid West Asia tensions and rise in crude oil prices. Besides, banking and telecom stocks contributed most of the gains in the key indices (Sensex and Nifty). Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has aimed to take the country’s goods and services exports to the $1 trillion mark in the current fiscal year (FY27). Goyal said that increasing exports from $863 billion to $1 trillion requires an additional $137 billion, which translates to a 16-17% growth.
On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red amid West Asia tensions. European equity markets were trading higher after data showed that UK economy grew at a faster pace in the first quarter, driven by contribution from all three sectors.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75595.47, up by 986.49 points or 1.32% after trading in a range of 74526.77 and 75681.88. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.18%, Metal up by 2.07%, Healthcare up by 2.04%, Bankex up by 1.61% and Utilities up by 1.61%, while IT down by 1.58% was the sole losing index on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 5.12%, HDFC Bank up by 3.48%, Eternal up by 3.24%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.16% and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries up by 1.97%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.23%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.65%, HCL Technologies down by 1.31%, TCS down by 0.83% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.75% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, India's wholesale price index (WPI) inflation accelerated further in the month of April 2026 to 8.30% as compared to 3.88% in March 2026, due to a sharp rise in the prices of crude petroleum, natural gas and mineral oils amid geopolitical conflict in West Asia affecting supply chains through the Strait of Hormuz.
The component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, increased by 2.58% in April 2026 to 202.4 (provisional) from 197.3 (provisional) in March 2026, on the back of a sharp rise in the prices of crude petroleum & natural gas, food articles and minerals. However, the price of non- food articles decreased in April 2026 compared to March 2026.
Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased by 18.22% to 181.7 (provisional) in April 2026 from 153.7 (provisional) in March 2026, as the price of mineral oils increased in April 2026 compared to March 2026. But, the price of electricity decreased in April 2026.
Further, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by 1.40% to 151.6 (provisional) in April 2026 from 149.5 (provisional) in March 2026. Meanwhile, for the month of February 2026, the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011- 12=100) stood at 158.4 and 2.26% respectively.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23758.85, up by 346.25 points or 1.48% after trading in a range of 23426.55 and 23777.20. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 8.10%, Cipla up by 8.09%, Bharti Airtel up by 5.09%, HDFC Bank up by 3.43% and Eternal up by 3.27%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.32%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.61%, HCL Technologies down by 1.23%, Nestle down by 0.90% and TCS down by 0.85% were the top losers.
Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 374.11 points or 0.59% to 62,898.00, Hang Seng declined 28.44 points or 0.11% to 26,360.00, Straits Times fell 12.78 points or 0.26% to 4,991.18 and Shanghai Composite weakened 64.65 points or 1.55% to 4,177.92, while Taiwan Weighted added 377.25 points or 0.9% to 41,751.75 and KOSPI increased 137.40 points or 1.72% to 7,981.41.
European equity markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 20.79 points or 0.2% to 10,346.14, France’s CAC rose 51.63 points or 0.64% to 8,059.60 and Germany’s DAX gained 209.19 points or 0.86% to 24,346.00.
