Indian equity benchmarks made a positive start on Monday amid foreign fund inflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 1,355.33 crore on July 03. Sensex and Nifty were trading higher with notable gains of around half a percent each in early delas as investors reacted to quarterly business updates from key private lenders, while crude oil prices remained below $72 per barrel. Several lenders including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, among others, reported provisional numbers for the April-June period ahead of quarterly earnings. Besides, Crude oil prices remained below $72 a barrel after OPEC+ agreed to raise output targets from August and exports through the Strait of Hormuz continued to recover, easing supply concerns. Some support came as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India is targeting 16-17 per cent growth in merchandise exports to $530 billion in the current fiscal year.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors struggled to maintain last week's late tech recovery, with traders turning their focus to the upcoming earnings season, while oil prices fell on further supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78163.87, up by 399.96 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 77879.70 and 78194.36. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.19%, Realty up by 0.87%, Metal up by 0.79%, Industrials up by 0.76% and Bankex up by 0.72%, while IT down by 0.38%, Utilities down by 0.22% and FMCG down by 0.02% were the few losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 2.60%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.22%, Axis Bank up by 1.66%, ICICI Bank up by 1.28% and State Bank of India up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.71%, Power Grid down by 1.08%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.97%, TCS down by 0.92% and ITC down by 0.62% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, with an aim to ensure a secure and predictable investment climate between the India and Israel, the Finance Ministry has said that the India-Israel Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA) came into force on July 4. 2026. The pact, which provides protection for two-way investments, is likely to boost cross-border investment activity. India and Israel had signed the agreement on September 8, 2025.
Under the agreement, India has reduced the local remedies exhaustion period for Israeli investors to three years from the standard five years. Local remedies exhaustion requires investors to first seek resolution of disputes through the host country's legal system before approaching international arbitration.
In a departure from India's previous bilateral investment treaties, the India-Israel BIA also covers portfolio investments. Israel is the first member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with which India has signed such an agreement. The pact is likely to facilitate higher bilateral investment flows. Between April 2000 and March 2026, India received foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $371.35 million from Israel.
The implementation of the agreement is significant as the two countries are also negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA). However, the talks have progressed slowly due to the West Asia crisis. Meanwhile, India is simultaneously negotiating bilateral investment treaties with several other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Switzerland, Russia, Australia, and the European Union. These treaties are aimed at protecting and promoting investments in each other's markets.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24382.00, up by 111.15 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 24287.10 and 24394.40. There were 28 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Bank up by 2.61%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.18%, Hindalco Industries up by 1.77%, Axis Bank up by 1.68% and ONGC up by 1.37%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.68%, Power Grid down by 1.01%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.98%, Wipro down by 0.94% and TCS down by 0.91% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 439.07 points or 0.63% to 69,305.00, KOSPI dropped 119.02 points or 1.47% to 7,969.32, Jakarta Composite fell 10.69 points or 0.18% to 5,865.09 and Straits Times was down by 5.44 points or 0.1% to 5,238.85. On the other hand, Hang Seng rose 149.97 points or 0.64% to 23,500.00, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 31.77 points or 0.07% to 46,812.39 and Shanghai Composite was up by 3.07 points or 0.08% to 4,046.71.
