Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended higher for fifth straight session on Thursday, supported by optimism over India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) and falling crude oil prices. The FTA between India and the UK will formally enter into force on July 15, 2026, after resolving a steel issue. The move is likely to help double two-way commerce to $100 billion by 2030. Further, foreign fund inflows lend some support to the market. as per NSE data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 101.59 crore on June 17. After making flat-to-negative start, soon index turned volatile and continued its range bound trade for most of part of the session, amid selling in IT stocks. Besides, some cautiousness came in market as the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged as widely expected, but the latest set of projections suggested there could be at least one increase to its main rate this year. However, in last hour of the trade, Nifty witnessed sharp recovery to end the session near the day’s high level.
