A firm trade persisted in Indian equity markets during early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains, despite negative cues from other Asian markets, on the back of heavy buying at FMCG and Healthcare counters. Traders got some relief, amid reports that the Indian economy is facing headwinds from external sectors with rising fuel and fertiliser import bills due to West Asia crisis, but GDP growth momentum remains intact with domestic consumption holding up.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after China's consumer prices logged a steady growth in May and producer price inflation accelerated. Consumer prices increased 1.2 percent year-on-year in May, the same rate as seen in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said. This was slightly weaker than forecast of 1.3 percent.
Back home, pharma sector was in watch, as Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has said that India is well positioned to serve the world as an innovator, manufacturer, reliable supplier of affordable medicines, partner in advanced healthcare technologies and destination for contract manufacturing.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74345.24, up by 426.48 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 73897.83 and 74534.56. There were 19 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.18%, Healthcare up by 0.45%, Bankex up by 0.10% and Consumer Durables up by 0.05%, while Telecom down by 1.60%, Metal down by 0.96%, Oil & Gas down by 0.90%, Energy down by 0.73% and Realty down by 0.55% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.25%, Axis Bank up by 2.15%, ICICI Bank up by 2.04%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.79% and ITC up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.46%, Tata Steel down by 1.23%, Titan down by 0.79%, Eternal down by 0.55% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.44% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, SBI research in its latest Ecowrap report has said that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recent measures to attract foreign capital are expected to bring in $55-65 billion of inflows in the current fiscal (FY27), helping stabilise the rupee and turning the country's balance of payments (BoP) into a surplus. It noted that the measures include a concessional forex swap facility to encourage external commercial borrowings (ECBs) by public sector undertakings, as well as a similar facility for banks raising fresh 3-5-year Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) or FCNR(B) deposits.
According to the report, the RBI's initiatives announced in February and June 2026 represent a coordinated strategy to stabilise the rupee, deepen India's domestic debt market, attract stable foreign capital and ease access to external funding. It said the February measures on the ECB were structural and market development oriented, while the June measures aimed to attract foreign currency inflows and support the rupee without raising domestic interest rates.
The further report said the expected inflows of $55-65 billion could significantly improve liquidity conditions in the banking system. It expects the deposit growth for FY27 for the banking system to jump to around 14.5-15 per cent against a potential credit growth of 16 per cent. As a result, the credit deposit gap after adjusting for regulatory dispensation will shrink by around Rs 1 lakh crore and this will ensure that the term structure of interest rates will decline further. Also, it said ‘the overall balance of payment would be in the range of $5 to $10 billion surplus for FY27. This is way above our previous estimate of $65-70 billion deficit. Subsequently, the current account deficit would be in the range of 1.5-1.7 per cent of GDP.’
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23347.75, up by 105.65 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 23217.30 and 23409.80. There were 28 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.23%, Axis Bank up by 2.17%, JSW Steel up by 2.01%, ICICI Bank up by 1.87% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.86%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.54%, Infosys down by 2.47%, Coal India down by 1.47%, ONGC down by 1.33% and Tata Steel down by 1.25% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI dropped 366.11 points or 4.74% to 7,730.82, Taiwan Weighted lost 1478.9 points or 3.42% to 43,225.54, Nikkei 225 slipped 1226.63 points or 1.91% to 64,190.00, Straits Times fell 60.68 points or 1.21% to 4,962.57, Hang Seng declined 163.9 points or 0.67% to 24,402.00, and Shanghai Composite weakened 16.8 points or 0.42% to 3,993.23, while Jakarta Composite gained 112.21 points or 1.95% to 5,858.86.
