Bulls held their tight grip in Indian equity markets during early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding strong gains, aided by heavy buying at all counters including Telecom and Industrials, amid positive cues from other Asian markets as hopes of a US-Iran peace deal, easing crude oil prices and improving global sentiment lifted investor confidence. Traders took a note of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that countries, including India, protect their domestic industries from unfair trade practices and dumping, but India remains committed to navigate global trade challenges through dialogue, cooperation, and mutually beneficial engagement. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data report on ECB/FCCB has showed that Indian companies raised around $3.76 billion through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) in the month of April 2026. This was higher than $2.91 billion raised in the same month a year ago, while lower than $5.43 billion raised in March.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, after U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled a third consecutive day of strikes on Iran and claimed that a peace deal with Tehran is close to being finalized with a 'time and place of the signing' to be announced shortly.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74558.69, up by 726.14 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 74453.39 and 74859.16. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.40%, Industrials up by 1.89%, Capital Goods up by 1.48%, Consumer Durables up by 1.36% and Bankex up by 1.32%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Interglobe Aviation up by 3.28%, Titan up by 2.20%, Eternal up by 2.08%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.95% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.83%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.13%, Power Grid down by 1.08%, Tata Steel down by 0.58%, HCL Tech. down by 0.45% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.23% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called for coordinated global action to deal with the adverse impact of conflicts and uncertainty. She pointed that while the prosperity and challenges are shared in today’s interconnected world, the consequences of conflicts and uncertainty fall disproportionately on developing countries and the Global South. She added that some imbalances globally reflect differences in demographics, development stages, resource endowments, or economic structures. Therefore, the focus should be on excessive and persistent imbalances while recognising that the scale of domestic needs varies significantly across countries.
Moreover, she has emphasized the need of strengthening multilateral cooperation to build resilient economies, accelerate sustainable development, and ensure inclusive growth that benefits all. Besides, she noted that the recent developments have highlighted the importance of resilient, diversified and geographically distributed supply chains, particularly for critical minerals, and focus on circularity, recycling and urban mining can address some of the sourcing challenges being collectively faced by the world.
Highlighting India’s economic progress, the minister said India continues to be among the world’s fastest-growing major economies, with GDP growth projected to remain robust at around 7% over the medium term. She added that GDP growth is primarily domestic-demand led, with a largely market-determined exchange rate.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23350.65, up by 189.05 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 23322.65 and 23455.95. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Interglobe Aviation up by 3.23%, Shriram Finance up by 2.95%, Eternal up by 2.17%, Titan up by 2.14% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.97%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.09%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.88%, Coal India down by 1.24%, Power Grid down by 1.10% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.93% were the top losers.
All Asian markets were trading higher; Jakarta Composite gained 157.52 points or 2.61% to 6,043.55, KOSPI increased 359.67 points or 4.43% to 8,123.62, Taiwan Weighted added 1019.58 points or 2.31% to 44,169.04, Hang Seng advanced 341.71 points or 1.41% to 24,591.00, Nikkei 225 surged 1837.73 points or 2.78% to 66,055.00, Straits Times rose 17.9 points or 0.36% to 5,006.00 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 44.5 points or 1.1% to 4,031.51.
