Benchmarks have relinquished some gains to trade near the neutral lines in late afternoon session ahead of weekly expiry of Sensex F&O contracts. Further, continued hostilities in West Asia have sparked caution among investors. Besides, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to pull out fund from Indian markets. FIIs were the net seller on Wednesday’s session, offloading securities worth Rs 2,124.98 crore. However, the government’s extension of the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Microfinance Institutions (CGSMFI) - 2.0 has lend some support to the markets. The government has approved the extension of the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Microfinance Institutions (CGSMFI) - 2.0 up to August 31, 2026, or till guarantees for an amount of Rs 20,000 crore are issued, whichever is earlier. The scheme was valid till June 30, 2026 or loans up to Rs 20,000 crore are guaranteed, whichever is earlier.
On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red tracking losses from Wall Street overnight. However, European equity markets were trading mostly in green ahead of monetary policy announcement from the European Central Bank.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74103.13, up by 119.95 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 73518.75 and 74394.34. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.
The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.57%, Bankex up by 0.41% and Auto up by 0.15%, while IT down by 1.54%, Industrials down by 0.97%, Utilities down by 0.85%, Power down by 0.80%, TECK down by 0.71% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.04%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.95%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.53%, Reliance Industries up by 0.81% and Axis Bank up by 0.64%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.20%, HCL Technologies down by 1.70%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.17%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.10% and Asian Paints down by 1.07% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, BMI, a Fitch group company, has said that India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is likely to slow to 6.6% in the current fiscal (FY27) as compared to 7.7 per cent in FY26. It said the slowdown could be driven by weaker investments and consumption growth along with trade-related disruptions stemming from the West Asia crisis. BMI's forecast is in line with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) projection of 6.6% growth for FY27.
BMI attributed the expected moderation in growth rate this fiscal to three factors. First, the impact of last year's GST reforms on domestic consumption is likely to fade. Second, higher price inflation which BMI expects to hit 5.3 per cent in FY27 will hinder consumption growth amid disruption at Strait of Hormuz. Thirdly, BMI expects investment growth to slow during the fiscal year. It said ‘this slowdown is not due to our new forecast of accumulative 50 basis points (bps) rate hike by the RBI in FY27, since the effect on growth will primarily be felt during FY28’.
BMI expects the rupee to trade at around 95.1 against the US dollar during the current calendar year. It said the currency's depreciation from its 87 average level in 2025 will support export competitiveness, and help offset some of the economic impact arising from the Iran conflict's terms-of-trade shock. It said the GST reforms implemented in September 2025 caused a consumption boom in December quarter FY26. Thereafter, consumption growth fell by 1.1 percentage points to 7.1 per cent y-o-y in March quarter FY26.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23231.70, up by 16.75 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 23072.05 and 23327.45. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 2.06%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.92%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.61%, JSW Steel up by 1.05% and Grasim Industries up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.31%, HCL Technologies down by 1.73%, Hindalco down by 1.21%, Asian Paints down by 1.17% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.16% were the top losers.
Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 62.27 points or 0.1% to 64,117.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 76.08 points or 0.18% to 43,149.46, Hang Seng declined 191.96 points or 0.79% to 24,216.00, Shanghai Composite weakened 6.22 points or 0.16% to 3,987.01 and Jakarta Composite plunged 18.31 points or 0.31% to 5,884.07, while KOSPI increased 33.13 points or 0.43% to 7,763.95 and Straits Times rose 36.13 points or 0.72% to 4,994.98.
European equity markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 58.51 points or 0.57% to 10,313.32 and France’s CAC rose 35.17 points or 0.43% to 8,197.00, while Germany’s DAX lost 57.11 points or 0.24% to 24,138.20.
