Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on the monthly Nifty F&O expiry session. After making a slightly positive start, the indices slipped into negative territory and hovered around the neutral lines for most part of the session, as traders remained cautious ahead of the next round of U.S.-Iran negotiations scheduled to take place in Doha. In the final hour of trade, heavy selling in IT stocks intensified the decline, dragging markets deep in red.

Some of the important factors in trade:

FIIs remain net sellers: Traders were concerned amid foreign fund outflows as foreign institutional investors were net sellers of shares worth Rs 1,350.10 crore on Monday. 

India's FTA talks with Israel, GCC temporarily stalled amid West Asia crisis: Some cautiousness also came as the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India's free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with Israel and the six-nation GCC bloc are ‘temporarily stalled’ at present amid the West Asia crisis.

External debt of India stands at $762.8 billion at end of March 2026: Traders took note of the Reserve Bank of India's data on 'India's External Debt as at the end of March 2026' has stated that total external debt of India stood at $762.8 billion at the end of March 2026, registering an increase of $26.3 billion over the year-ago period.

On the global front: European markets were trading higher, led by a rebound in technology stocks amid renewed optimism over artificial intelligence (AI). Sentiments were further supported by expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) is unlikely to raise interest rates in the near term. Asian markets closed mixed amid broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. 

The BSE Sensex ended at 76478.67, down by 249.70 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 76329.39 and 77037.36. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.23%, Consumer Durables up by 0.98%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.81%, Healthcare up by 0.58%, Capital Goods up by 0.55%, while IT down by 2.48%, TECK down by 1.48%, FMCG down by 0.43%, Bankex down by 0.25%, and Metal down by 0.18% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki India up by 5.33%, Titan Company up by 3.29%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.41%, Eternal up by 2.39% and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 1.94%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.05%, TCS down by 3.01%, HCL Technologies down by 2.82%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.02% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.25% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the commerce department stated that India and the Maldives have started negotiations for a free trade agreement. It said the discussions are being held via virtual mode and are expected to conclude on July 7 after beginning on June 29. It stated ‘The Government of India has officially commenced the first round of negotiations for a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Republic of Maldives.’ 

Under a trade agreement, two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. The Bilateral trade between India and the Maldives increased by 13.5 per cent to $771.76 million (exports $458.71 million and imports $313 million) in 2025-26 from $690 million in 2024-25. India is the major trading partner of the Maldives.

Indian imports from the Maldives primarily comprise scrap metals, while exports include a variety of engineering and industrial products like drugs and pharmaceuticals, radar apparatus, rock boulders, aggregates, cement, and agricultural products like rice, spices, fruits, vegetables and poultry produce. India and the Maldives signed a trade agreement in 1981, which provides for the export of essential commodities.

The CNX Nifty ended at 23865.75, down by 80.50 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 23829.20 and 24035.55. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional) 

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki India up by 5.24%, Titan Company up by 3.43%, Adani Enterprises up by 2.72%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.54% and Eternal up by 2.26%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 4.31%, Tata Consumer Products down by 3.58%, TCS down by 3.09%, Infosys down by 2.97% and Wipro down by 2.92% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; Germany’s DAX gained 325.91 points or 1.32% to 24,952.80, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 103.37 points or 0.99% to 10,587.59 and France’s CAC rose 46.37 points or 0.55% to 8,413.70.

Asian markets ended mixed on Tuesday as investors watched for a possible resumption of US-Iran peace talks in Doha that could help ease inflation concerns. However, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei flatly rejected the claim, stating, “Over the coming days, we will not have any negotiation meetings with the US side at any level”. Hong Kong shares dropped, despite continued policy support from Beijing after Chinese central bank PBoC significantly boosted liquidity via its overnight reverse repo operations. Chinese shares gained as stronger-than-expected PMI data reinforced optimism about China's economic health. Data showed that China's official manufacturing PMI returned to expansion in June, and non-manufacturing activity expanded for a second month. Further, Japanese shares continued to benefit from optimism surrounding the global expansion of AI, supported by their strategic positioning and investments in the sector. Japanese shares also drew support from the yen’s slide, which was driven by expectations of a slow pace of interest-rate increases by the Bank of Japan.