The Dalal Street carried on lackluster trading in early afternoon deals, amid persistent foreign portfolio investor selling and escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. Selling at IT and Power counters also kept sentiments downbeat. Traders took a note of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest report showing that India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) commitments declined by 47.92% to $2,990.73 million in June 2026 as against $5,742.22 million in June 2025, with decline in equity, loan and guarantee commitments.
On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher, after China maintained its loan prime rates unchanged for the fourteenth consecutive month, as widely expected. The People's Bank of China left its one-year loan prime rate unchanged at 3.0 percent. Similarly, the five-year LPR, the benchmark for mortgage rates, was retained at 3.50 percent.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77486.05, down by 222.47 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 77409.23 and 77753.18. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Basic Materials up by 0.81%, Realty up by 0.63%, Telecom up by 0.52%, Metal up by 0.43% and Auto up by 0.20%, while IT down by 0.63%, Power down by 0.34%, FMCG down by 0.31%, PSU down by 0.30% and Utilities down by 0.30% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Interglobe Aviation up by 1.28%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.06%, HCL Technologies up by 0.89%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.89% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.80%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 1.51%, TCS down by 1.20%, Infosys down by 1.20%, Power Grid down by 1.07% and Trent down by 0.94% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, with India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) coming into effect, India has invited the first round of applications for the allocation of 2026 import quotas for fully-built passenger cars and goods vehicles under the duty concession provisions of the India-UK free trade agreement. The directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) has said that importers seeking to import vehicles from the UK under the quota-based duty concessions (tariff rate quota - TRQ) provided under the agreement can submit their applications from July 21 to August 4. The applications have been invited for allocation of quota to the importers for 9,316 units in the first phase.
Under CETA, India has allowed the import of a total of 3.78 lakh units of conventional-engine passenger cars, including those in the mass segment, from the UK at a concessional customs duty during the first 15 years of the implementation of the trade pact between the two countries. Further, the tariffs on automotive imports will fall from about 110% to 10%, with quotas on both sides. Only Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), dealers and channel partners duly authorised by the OEMs of vehicles originating in the UK will be eligible to apply for the TRQ. In order to be eligible for the concession, each applicant have to submit a pre-purchase agreement issued by an OEM of the vehicles originating in the UK setting out the quantity of vehicles agreed to be supplied to the applicant during the TRQ year for importation into India under each TRQ.
The quota for cars with an engine capacity of up to 1,500 cc has been kept at 2,329 units. These vehicles will attract a basic customs duty of 50% instead of 66%. Likewise, for cars with engine capacity exceeding 1,500 cc but below 3,000 cc for petrol-run vehicles or exceeding 1,500 cc but not exceeding 2,500 cc for diesel-run vehicles, the quota again has been set at 2,329 units. On these vehicles, the duties have also been reduced to 50% from 66%. A quota of 4,658 units has been set for cars with an engine capacity of more than 3,000 cc for petrol-run vehicles and 2,500 cc for diesel-run vehicles. For these categories, the import duty will come down to 30% from 110%.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24179.00, down by 59.50 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 24158.05 and 24262.20. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 2.67%, Interglobe Aviation up by 1.40%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.13%, HCL Technologies up by 1.11% and JSW Steel up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.52%, HDFC Bank down by 1.45%, TCS down by 1.30%, Power Grid down by 1.13% and Max Healthcare down by 1.11% were the top losers.
All Asian markets were trading higher; Jakarta Composite gained 86.62 points or 1.37% to 6,318.22, KOSPI increased 231.68 points or 3.43% to 6,747.95, Taiwan Weighted added 1783.17 points or 4.03% to 44,232.87, Hang Seng advanced 43.95 points or 0.17% to 25,187.00, Nikkei 225 surged 1929.88 points or 2.92% to 66,071.00, Straits Times rose 36.34 points or 0.66% to 5,535.29 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 68.09 points or 1.76% to 3,864.37.
