Indian equity markets erased most of their initial losses and were trading marginally lower in late morning deals, tracking weak trend in global equities and rising crude oil prices amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran. Unabated foreign fund outflows and a spike in US inflation also dented markets' sentiment. Traders remained cautious as BMI, a Fitch group company, stated that India's GDP is likely to grow at 6.6 per cent in the current fiscal as compared to 7.7 per cent in FY26, on weaker investments and consumption growth and trade shocks from the West Asia crisis. However, losses remain capped as some support came with Sumeet Jarangal, joint secretary in the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) stating that India attracted cumulative Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows of $843 billion between 2014-15 and 2025-26, registering a 169 per cent increase over the preceding 12-year period. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as traders remained cautions amid concerns about the Middle East conflict intensifying after U.S. retaliation to Iran's downing of a U.S. helicopter and Iran's counter-attacks delayed an amicable U.S.-Iran peace deal and an early reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73937.88, down by 45.30 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 73518.75 and 73982.86. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.47%, Telecom up by 0.41%, Bankex up by 0.21% and Metal up by 0.13%, while IT down by 1.35%, Oil & Gas down by 0.71%, Industrials down by 0.70%, PSU down by 0.67% and Consumer Discretionary down by 0.65% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.37%, Axis Bank up by 0.94%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.76%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.75% and Reliance Industries up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Trent down by 2.39%, HCL Technologies down by 2.29%, Infosys down by 2.07%, Eternal down by 1.98% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.31% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, with an aim of encouraging customers to move towards ethanol-blended petrol, the Indian government has waived excise duty on variants of ethanol-blended petrol. The finance ministry has said that the excise duty will be 'nil' on petrol with 22%, 25%, 27% and 30% ethanol blend.
The duty waiver is applicable on E22, E25, E27 and E30 variants of petrol. The move come against the backdrop of petrol and diesel prices rising by nearly Rs 7.50 a litre in the second half of May.
In March this year, the government had cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 a litre, foregoing over Rs 1 lakh crore of annual revenue. This was aimed at shielding domestic customers from the surge in global crude oil prices amid the West Asia war.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23179.25, down by 35.70 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 23072.05 and 23214.05. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 2.30%, Axis Bank up by 0.90%, Reliance Industries up by 0.86%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.78% and ONGC up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Trent down by 2.60%, HCL Tech. down by 2.56%, Infosys down by 2.22%, Eternal down by 2.15% and Shriram Finance down by 1.73% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 120.02 points or 0.28% to 43,105.52, Jakarta Composite plunged 112.98 points or 1.95% to 5,789.40, Shanghai Composite weakened 12.53 points or 0.31% to 3,980.70 and Hang Seng declined 262.96 points or 1.08% to 24,145.00.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 62.73 points or 0.1% to 64,242.00, KOSPI increased 22.79 points or 0.29% to 7,753.61 and Straits Times rose 1.64 points or 0.03% to 4,960.49.
