A sustained buying took Indian markets near their intraday high points in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding strong gains, on the back of heavy buying at Realty and Auto counters, despite weak cues from other Asian markets. Traders took a note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India's expanding middle class will emerge as the country's biggest economic driver over the next decade, with the segment and the slightly affluent population expected to account for 93 percent of total consumer spending by 2036.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, despite easing global inflationary pressures amid easing Middle East tensions and hopes the US Fed will not tighten its monetary policy for now.
Back home, auto stocks were in watch, as Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has said that India’s total automobile retail sales surged 21.83% year-on-year to 25,57,234 units in June 2026 as compared with 20,98,996 units in the corresponding month last year, led by strong demand across segments.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78338.21, up by 574.30 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 77879.70 and 78388.24. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.43%, Auto up by 1.07%, Capital Goods up by 1.00%, Energy up by 0.99% and Oil & Gas up by 0.96%, while IT down by 0.83%, Healthcare down by 0.24% and TECK down by 0.14% were the few losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 3.35%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.03%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.66%, Reliance Industries up by 1.44% and ICICI Bank up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.94%, TCS down by 1.51%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.30%, Infosys down by 1.11% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.80% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has notified the Rules of Origin under the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), paving the way for the agreement to become operational from July 15, 2026. The rules prescribe the criteria for determining the origin of goods eligible for preferential tariff benefits under the pact. A certificate of origin is a key document required for exports to avail duty benefits under India's trade agreements with partner countries. It is essential to establish the origin of goods to ensure that products from third countries do not wrongly avail themselves of the preferential tariff benefits under trade agreements between the two countries.
In a notification, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), said entities authorised by the two countries are permitted to issue these certificates in their respective countries. It said these rules may be called the Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin of Goods under Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between India and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) Rules, 2026.
The agreement grants duty-free access to 99% of India's exports to the UK, covering nearly the entire trade basket. This is expected to create significant opportunities for labour-intensive sectors as textiles, marine products, leather, footwear, sports goods, toys, and gems and jewellery, alongside fast-growing sectors like engineering goods, auto components, and organic chemicals. Bilateral trade between India and the UK rose 8.62% to $25.12 billion in FY26, with India's exports at $13.44 billion and imports at $11.68 billion. India recorded a trade surplus of $1.76 billion during the fiscal year.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24440.50, up by 169.65 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 24287.10 and 24453.50. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Bank up by 3.32%, Hindalco Industries up by 2.30%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.09%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.09% and ONGC up by 1.85%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.95%, TCS down by 1.56%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.24%, Wipro down by 1.20% and Infosys down by 1.17% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI dropped 37.01 points or 0.46% to 8,051.33, Taiwan Weighted lost 224.23 points or 0.48% to 46,556.39, Nikkei 225 slipped 107.07 points or 0.15% to 69,637.00, Straits Times fell 1.44 points or 0.03% to 5,242.85 and Shanghai Composite weakened 2.4 points or 0.06% to 4,041.24, while Hang Seng advanced 134.97 points or 0.58% to 23,485.00 and Jakarta Composite gained 6.57 points or 0.11% to 5,882.35.
