Indian equity benchmarks started the session in green on Tuesday but soon turned volatile amid weakness in Asian peers. Most of the Asian markets were trading lower with South Korea leading losses, as the chip-led artificial-intelligence rally takes a breather amid concerns over high valuations in AI-linked companies. Closer home, Sensex and Nifty were trading marginally higher in early deals amid signs of renewed foreign investor buying. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 243.03 crore on Monday. Also, value buying in IT and Teck stocks, aided the domestic sentiments.
Besides, traders took note of report that Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India and the European Union (EU) are expected to complete the legal scrubbing of the free trade agreement (FTA) in the next 15-20 days. Though, upside remained capped amid concerns over the agriculture ministry data showing that total sowing of kharif crops declined to 350.85 lakh hectares as of July 06, a 21 per cent decrease from 442.8 lakh hectares last year, citing low rainfall amid delayed progress of the southwest monsoon.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78389.01, up by 103.94 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 78248.31 and 78504.01. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.54%, TECK up by 0.87%, Consumer Durables up by 0.68%, Healthcare up by 0.37% and Bankex up by 0.21%, while Capital Goods down by 1.60%, Industrials down by 1.29%, Telecom down by 1.10%, Power down by 1.01% and Realty down by 0.68% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 3.39%, Infosys up by 2.97%, HCL Technologies up by 1.54%, TCS up by 1.42% and Eternal up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Trent down by 10.37%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.37%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.28%, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.17% and ITC down by 0.71% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India and the European Union (EU) are likely to complete the legal scrubbing of the free trade agreement (FTA) within the next 15-20 days. India and the 27-nation bloc announced the conclusion of negotiations for the trade pact in January. Following the legal scrubbing, both sides are likely to sign the agreement by the end of this year and implement it next year. Goyal said he will visit Brussels on July 14-15 along with a business delegation. He added ‘We are going to Brussels, Spain, and Finland, as we have already started promoting Indian products, goods, and services.’
He also said that India and the EU are also discussing ways to speed up the legal scrub of the EU-India FTA, so that it can go in for ratification in their (EU's) Commission and Parliament. He said ‘And our effort is that in the first quarter of 2027, the EU-India FTA, which will open 27 developed countries for our businesses, which will be the mother of all these, will enter into force, will be operational, and take the country's exports to a newer height’. He pointed out that leather and leather product exports have reached $4-4.5 billion, and the trade pacts will help create huge opportunities in developed countries. He said ‘The new markets in developed nations that have been opened up for your sector. I think the time is right for all of you to aim big, aspire for much bigger achievements. The enabling conditions have been created’.
The minister asked the leather industry to aim for $15 billion in exports in the next 5-6 years. He said ‘Finishing, designing, packaging, brand building. These are the areas which will define our future. Our export promotion mission is willing to extend every possible assistance that you may require’. Calling for diversification of export destinations, he said 77 per cent of India's leather exports currently go to only 15 countries. He said the time has come to diversify across the world.
Further, Goyal said India is in dialogue with Canada for a trade pact and expressed hope that this could be concluded by the end of the year. In the Gulf Cooperation Council region, India already has FTAs with Oman and the UAE, and is negotiating with a six-country bloc, which could add four more countries, and take the number, under trade pacts, to 55. He said India is also talking to Mexico, which would take the number to 56, and to Brazil and three other countries associated with it, taking the number to 60.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24465.55, up by 35.20 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 24423.50 and 24488.45. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 3.40%, Infosys up by 2.73%, SBI Life Insurance up by 1.97%, Eternal up by 1.57% and HCL Technologies up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Trent down by 10.22%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.35%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.28%, Interglobe Aviation down by 0.96% and Coal India down by 0.89% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 1187.69 points or 1.7% to 68,550.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 625.47 points or 1.36% to 45,930.92, KOSPI dropped 572.93 points or 7.66% to 7,478.40, Hang Seng declined 141.32 points or 0.6% to 23,475.00 and Shanghai Composite weakened 42.21 points or 1.06% to 3,999.03. On the other hand, Straits Times rose 30.56 points or 0.58% to 5,290.37 and Jakarta Composite gained 25.53 points or 0.43% to 5,941.60.
