Key gauges end flat on Tuesday

Indian equity benchmarks remained in range-bound throughout the day and ended flat on Tuesday as investors turned cautious ahead of key global central bank policy meetings this week and heavy sell-off across Asian peers. Also, exchange data showed Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,688.23 crore on Monday.

Some of the important factors in trade: 

US, India expanding defence, civil nuclear cooperation: US Assistant Secretary of State S Paul Kapur has said the United States and India are broadening cooperation in defence and civil nuclear energy, with a focus on trusted artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies that are driving economic growth.

Indian CV industry’s alternate fuel penetration to reach 40-45% by FY30: Rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that penetration of alternate fuels, including CNG/LNG and electric vehicles (EV), in the Indian commercial vehicle (CV) industry is expected to increase to 40-45 per cent by FY30 from 27 per cent in FY26. 

Govt has no plan to waive loans of small and marginal farmers: Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that the government has no proposal for a one-time waiver of loans of small and marginal farmers. He said to provide relief to borrowers in distress, the RBI issued the Master Direction on Resolution of Stressed Assets, 2025.

India needs 86,440 MW additional thermal power generation capacity by FY36: The Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik has said that India needs to add 86,440 megawatt (MW) of thermal power generation capacity by FY36, of which 63,545 MW is already at various stages of implementation.

Global front: European markets were trading higher as oil prices extended their sharp retreat on hopes for diplomatic progress between the United States and Iran to end the conflict in the Middle East. Asian markets ended mostly lower as investors waited cues from big tech earnings and a Federal Reserve decision on Wednesday. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 69.86 points or 0.09% to 76,765.92 and the CNX Nifty was down by 10.60 points or 0.04% to 23,985.35.   

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 76,988.48 and 76,672.77, respectively. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.     

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 3.05%, Realty up by 2.19%, TECK up by 1.86%, Consumer Durables up by 1.32% and Auto up by 0.71%, while Capital Goods down by 2.40%, Power down by 2.36%, Utilities down by 1.75%, FMCG down by 1.27% and Industrials down by 1.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 4.47%, Eternal up by 4.02%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.86%, Infosys up by 2.47% and Titan Company up by 2.44%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 6.97%, Bharat Electronics down by 4.41%, NTPC down by 1.95%, Power Grid down by 1.25% and ICICI Bank down by 1.20% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State S Paul Kapur has said the United States and India are broadening cooperation in defence and civil nuclear energy, with a focus on trusted artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies that are driving economic growth. He made the remarks during a roundtable on India at the Hoover Institution, attended by former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former US Ambassador to India David C Mulford.

The two countries signed a framework last year to advance their major defence partnership, aimed at enhancing interoperability across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. Since 2002, India has inducted a range of US-origin defence platforms into its armed forces, including Apache and Chinook helicopters, C-17 and C-130J transport aircraft, P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, and M777 howitzers.

US nuclear power companies are also looking to expand their presence in India's civil nuclear sector. Earlier this year, a delegation of senior executives from the US nuclear industry visited India to explore collaboration opportunities with the private sector after New Delhi eased liability provisions through the enactment of the SHANTI Act.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 24,041.15 and 23,954.60, respectively. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 4.46%, Eternal up by 3.94%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.49%, Nestle India up by 3.19% and Cipla up by 2.67%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 7.11%, Bharat Electronics down by 4.46%, Coal India down by 3.98%, NTPC down by 2.19% and ICICI Bank down by 1.94% were the top losers. 

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 56.43 points or 0.52% to 10,838.18, France’s CAC rose 29.84 points or 0.35% to 8,435.90 and Germany’s DAX gained 92.87 points or 0.37% to 25,453.90. 

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday as investors turned cautious ahead of big tech earnings and a Federal Reserve decision on Wednesday. Tech-heavy Japan and South Korea led the losses amid growing doubts over returns from billions of dollars in artificial-intelligence spending. Chinese shares fell amid concerns over rising domestic chip production and massive investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure. A report showed that China has produced a key chipmaking tool, entering a market that has long been dominated by ASML. Investors shifted their focus on Politburo meeting later this week, where policymakers are expected to provide fresh cues on China's economic strategy for the second half of the year. However, some falls were limited by decline in Crude oil prices after Trump said the US was having good talks with Iran, raising optimism over the prospects for a negotiated peace deal.