Benchmarks continue firm trade; Sensex above 78,700 level

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in the morning session, following a sharp decline in crude oil prices amid easing geopolitical tensions. Foreign fund inflows also added to markets' optimism during the initial trade. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 277.48 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Traders took support with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data showeing that bank credit to industry grew 19.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) by the end of June 2026, a sharp acceleration from 6.3 per cent recorded in the corresponding period last year, as large companies as well as MSMEs displayed broad-based expansion. Sector-wise, power stocks remained in watch as data showed India's power consumption grew 10.93 per cent year-on-year to 170.70 billion units (BU) in July, as high humidity levels pushed up use of cooling appliances like air conditioners in many parts of the country. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid optimism on peace talks resuming in the Middle East after US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran will resume today and cancelled a planned strike on the Iran.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78713.64, up by 619.00 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 78497.34 and 78895.10. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.77%, IT up by 1.54%, Basic Materials up by 1.04%, Telecom up by 0.99% and Industrials up by 0.95%, while there was no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 3.45%, Interglobe Aviation up by 2.50%, TCS up by 1.90%, Infosys up by 1.82% and State Bank Of India up by 1.71%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.15%, Maruti Suzuki India down by 1.71%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.31% and NTPC down by 0.13% were the few losers.

Meanwhile, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) Amitesh Kumar Sinha has said companies from the US, Europe, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore have shown interest in India's semiconductor manufacturing programme Semicon 2.0. According to Sinha, global companies will take part in the Semicon India event in September, where they will explore potential collaborations and business opportunities in India.

Sinha said ‘Japan, US, European companies, Singaporean companies. I can also give specific names of European companies. Germany, Netherlands, a lot of Malaysian companies, Singaporean companies. They are all very interested.’ To strengthen domestic semiconductor design and manufacturing capabilities, the government has approved the Rs 1.27 lakh-crore Semicon 2.0 programme.  

Sinha said that guidelines for the scheme will be out in about two weeks. Moreover, he stated that a lot of foreign semiconductor firms will showcase their products and technology at the Semicon India event. He added ‘We see that it is a good platform for technology tagging because both the parties will be in front of each other. They may look into some kind of collaboration also.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24570.35, up by 186.75 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 24515.15 and 24592.45. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 3.83%, Shriram Finance up by 2.89%, Infosys up by 2.42%, Interglobe Aviation up by 2.40% and TCS up by 2.20%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.17%, Maruti Suzuki India down by 1.01%, NTPC down by 0.40%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.29% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.26% were the top losers. 

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 742.02 points or 1.15% to 63,620.00, Shanghai Composite weakened 27.29 points or 0.71% to 3,804.97, KOSPI dropped 351.26 points or 5.33% to 6,244.19 and Straits Times fell 15.53 points or 0.28% to 5,612.97.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted added 364.01 points or 0.84% to 43,483.76, Jakarta Composite gained 2.49 points or 0.04% to 6,238.62 and Hang Seng advanced 42.57 points or 0.16% to 25,927.00.