Benchmarks continued to trade higher in late afternoon session supported by strong buying in heavy weight banking stocks like ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Axis Bank. Investors were optimistic as tensions in West Asia eased after Iran and Isreal halted attacks on each other. Further, the development has cooled off the global crude oil prices with Brent crude trading near $92 a barrel. Sentiments also remained upbeat after reports showed that India’s merchandise exports have recorded about 15% growth during April-May 2026-27 despite global economic uncertainties. Besides, Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) data on Developments in India’s Balance of Payments has showed that India reported a current account surplus of $7.1 billion, or 0.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in the January-March quarter of 2025-26 (Q4FY26).
On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in green as geopolitical tensions eased and tech stocks rebounded following the recent sell off. European equity markets were trading mostly in green amid hopes that peace negotiations in Middle East would move forward after Iran and Isreal halts hostilities.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73862.33, up by 338.07 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 73426.18 and 74035.41. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.13%, Auto up by 1.46%, Realty up by 1.30%, PSU up by 1.00% and Consumer Discretionary up by 1.00%, while TECK down by 0.78%, IT down by 0.66% and Utilities down by 0.50% were the few losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Interglobe Aviation up by 3.77%, SBI up by 2.53%, ICICI Bank up by 2.14%, Axis Bank up by 2.04% and Trent up by 2.00%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.78%, NTPC down by 1.75%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.54%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.53% and Eternal down by 1.23% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings in its latest report has lowered India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth projections to 6.4% for the current fiscal (FY27) from 6.7% estimated earlier in March, as rising prices erode real incomes and dampen consumer spending, amid resilient capital expenditure. It said the US-Iran war will slow down the economy in the September and December quarters. However, it noted that domestic demand will be the main driver of growth, but lower imports in real terms imply positive contributions to growth from net external demand.
For FY28, Fitch expects GDP growth to pick up as the energy shock unwinds, with stronger consumer spending and investment translating to a growth rate of 6.7% for the full financial year, and ease towards trend growth of 6.4% in FY29. It said India's consumer price inflation has not yet risen significantly, but price pressures are mounting; wholesale prices rose by 8.3% y/y in April and CPI inflation to 3.5%. it said ‘We expect inflation to rise steadily over the months ahead, reaching 5.3% by the end of the (calendar) year. This reflects a combination of base effects and higher energy prices. Forecasts for below-average monsoon rains and the current heatwave in parts of India raise the risk of even stronger price rises’. It noted that ‘We do not expect a further, significant depreciation in the Indian rupee over the rest of the year’. It expects the exchange rate to average 97.50 to a dollar in the current fiscal.
Fitch has also lowered its 2026 forecast for global growth by 0.2 pp to 2.4% as world growth prospects have been hurt by the oil crisis prompted by the US-Iran war. The agency has revised its 2026 average price assumption for Brent crude oil to $87 per barrel (bbl), up from the $70/bbl estimated in March. The oil shock is a strong headwind to world growth, but its base case is far less severe than the pernicious oil shocks of the 1970s. Real oil prices reached $170/bbl in 1979 (measured in current prices) and Opec played a very different role then. Oil consumption as a share of world GDP has halved since 1980.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23241.45, up by 118.45 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 23104.45 and 23259.45. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Interglobe Aviation up by 3.93%, Eicher Motors up by 2.56%, SBI up by 2.55%, ICICI Bank up by 2.21% and Axis Bank up by 2.09%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.87%, Titan Compnay down by 1.72%, NTPC down by 1.60%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.56% and Power Grid Corporation down by 1.40% were the top losers.
Asian equity markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 1225.4 points or 1.88% to 65,250.00, Taiwan Weighted added 1201.66 points or 2.69% to 44,704.44, KOSPI increased 612.52 points or 7.56% to 8,096.93, Straits Times rose 57.82 points or 1.15% to 5,021.49, Shanghai Composite strengthened 50.69 points or 1.26% to 4,010.03 and Jakarta Composite gained 338.22 points or 5.95% to 5,680.36, while Hang Seng declined 80.06 points or 0.33% to 24,577.00.
European equity markets were trading mostly in green; Germany’s DAX gained 109.48 points or 0.44% to 24,725.70 and France’s CAC rose 75.11 points or 0.92% to 8,274.40, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 27.91 points or 0.27% to 10,345.29.
