Key gauges end flat amid geopolitical uncertainties

Indian equity benchmarks significantly pared their gains and ended flat on Thursday, as investors remained cautious amid geopolitical tensions and fluctuating crude oil prices. FII outflows and weak global market trends also weighed on domestic equities. However, softer than expected U.S. inflation eased rate concerns and offered downside support.

Some of the important factors in trade:

Crisil warns of medium-term funding gap, pitches for corporate debt market development: Pitching for attention to the development of the corporate debt market, domestic rating agency Crisil has warned that the current state of the financial is most likely to create a 'funding gap' in the medium term, potentially obstructing economic growth.

India-UK FTA to provide boost to India's merchandise, services exports: Welcoming the implementation of the India-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (India-UK FTA), the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has described it as a transformational milestone. It listed benefits of this FTA such as deepening of bilateral trade, enhancement in India's export competitiveness and new opportunities for exporters across sectors.  

India records current account surplus of $2.8 billion during April-May 2026: The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) preliminary data has showed that India recorded a current account (net) surplus of $2.8 billion during April-May 2026, compared with a deficit of $4.1 billion in the corresponding period last year, mainly aided by higher inward remittances from abroad and a rise in services exports.

Govt hikes windfall tax on exports of diesel to Rs 15.5 per litre, ATF to Rs 14.5 per litre: Amid escalating tensions in West Asia, the government of India has hiked the windfall gains tax on exports of diesel and ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) beginning July 16, 2026. 

Global front: European markets were trading lower with investors staying reluctant to pick up stocks amid worries about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Asian markets ended mixed even as softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data eased concerns about near-term Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes.  

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 1.44 points to 77,186.87 and the CNX Nifty was down by 5.75 points or 0.02% to 24,072.75.    

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 77,579.69 and 77,086.42, respectively. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.13%, IT up by 0.58%, TECK up by 0.50%, Auto up by 0.30% and FMCG up by 0.22%, while Realty down by 0.94%, Utilities down by 0.48%, Bankex down by 0.30%, Metal down by 0.26% and Power down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Interglobe Aviation up by 1.84%, HCL Technologies up by 1.73%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.57%, Maruti Suzuki India up by 1.42% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 2.82%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.00%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.96%, HDFC Bank down by 0.86% and Axis Bank down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) preliminary data on India’s balance of payments (BoP) has showed that India recorded a current account (net) surplus of $2.8 billion during April-May 2026, compared with a deficit of $4.1 billion in the corresponding period last year, mainly aided by higher inward remittances from abroad and a rise in services exports. 

However, the country’s overall balance of payments registered a deficit of $11 billion during the first two months of the current fiscal year, compared to a surplus of $5 billion in the same period last year. The merchandise trade deficit widened to $55.9 billion during the first two months of 2026-27 from $49.7 billion during April-May last fiscal year. Imports rose to $146.5 billion during the period under review from $127.1 billion, while exports increased to $90.7 billion from $77.4 billion.

According to the data, net services receipts increased to $34.3 billion in April-May 2026 from $31.7 billion in the year-ago period. Services exports rose to $70.4 billion from $65.3 billion in April-May 2025. Net transfers, which include inward remittances from overseas, rose to $29.6 billion during April-May 2026 from $20 billion in the year-ago period.

The data also showed that the net income outgo improved marginally to $5.2 billion from $6 billion. On the capital account side, net foreign direct investment stood at $6.5 billion during April-May 2026, up from $2.5 billion in the corresponding period last year. On the other hand, net foreign portfolio investment recorded a larger outflow of $12 billion compared to $0.8 billion a year ago.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 24,186.50 and 24,050.00, respectively. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 1.86%, Interglobe Aviation up by 1.82%, Wipro up by 1.75%, Maruti Suzuki India up by 1.52% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 3.00%, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.27%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.95%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.90% and HDFC Bank down by 0.87% were the top losers.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 39.42 points or 0.37% to 10,476.50, France’s CAC fell 63.73 points or 0.76% to 8,318.70 and Germany’s DAX lost 176.43 points or 0.71% to 24,823.10.

Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday driven by a sharp tech-sector selloff and growing concerns over the escalating US-Iran conflict, but softer-than-expected US producer price data eased concerns about near-term Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes. South Korea's Kospi dropped more than 6%, while the Korean won rose for a fifth straight session against the dollar to hit over a two-month high as the Bank of Korea raised its benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.75% for the first time in 3-1/2 years, aiming to counter persistent inflationary pressure amid the intensifying conflict in West Asia. Chinese shares fell after data showed China's GDP grew at its weakest pace since Q4 2022 and fell below the government's 2026 growth target range of 4.5%-5%. In response, the PBOC pledged stronger policy support in the second half of the year, signalling flexibility to use tools such as RRR cuts and reverse repos while maintaining the seven-day reverse repo rate as its key policy benchmark.