Markets maintain gains in late trade amid hopes of US-Iran peace talks

Indian equity markets maintained gains during late afternoon session amid optimism over easing tensions between US and Iran after US President Donald Trump indicated resumption of talks with Iran starting Monday. This has also weighed on global crude oil with Brent crude oil prices falling over 4% to trade near $84 a barrel. Further, persistent appreciation of Indian rupee against US dollar kept market sentiment upbeat. Besides, traders paid no heed towards HSBC India Manufacturing PMI data suggesting India's manufacturing sector activity growth fell to a five-year low in July, due to slower rise in new business orders amid increasingly challenging market conditions. HSBC India Manufacturing PMI ell from 54.2 in June to 53.5 in July -- the lowest since August 2021 and below the long-run series average of 54.2.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red weighed by selling among semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related stocks. European markets were trading mostly in green amid hopes of ease in Middles East tensions. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78739.98, up by 645.34 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 78497.34 and 78895.10. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.24%, Industrials up by 1.47%, Basic Materials up by 1.40%, Metal up by 1.36% and TECK up by 1.17%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Interglobe Aviation up by 4.07%, Infosys up by 3.10%, TCS up by 2.91%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.44% and Eternal up by 2.13%. On the flip side, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries down by 1.43%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.17%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.75%, Maruti Suzuki India down by 0.54% and Power Grid Corporation down by 0.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India's power consumption witnessed a 10.93% growth to 170.70 billion units (BU) in July 2026 as compared to 153.88 BU in the corresponding month last year, driven by high humidity levels that boosted demand for cooling appliances such as air conditioners across India.  

Reflecting the strong electricity demand, the peak power demand climbed to 270.20 GW in July 2026 from 220.74 GW a year earlier. The peak demand remained close to the all-time high of 270.82 GW recorded in May 2026. 

The power demand stood at 230.99 GW in May 2025 and 242.77 GW in June 2025, remaining below the government's projected peak of 277 GW for last summer.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24590.95, up by 207.35 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 24515.15 and 24609.50. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Interglobe Aviation up by 4.39%, Infosys up by 3.37%, TCS up by 3.01%, Shriram Finance up by 3.00% and JIO Financial Serv. up by 2.55%. On the flip side, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries down by 2.21%, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise down by 1.52%, Cipla down by 0.96%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.85% and Maruti Suzuki India down by 0.80% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 719.02 points or 1.13% to 63,643.00, KOSPI dropped 338.00 points or 5.4% to 6,257.45, Straits Times fell 28.59 points or 0.51% to 5,599.91, Shanghai Composite weakened 22.6 points or 0.59% to 3,809.66 and Jakarta Composite plunged 12.52 points or 0.2% to 6,223.61, while Taiwan Weighted added 266.66 points or 0.61% to 43,386.41 and Hang Seng advanced 141.57 points or 0.54% to 26,026.00.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 105.26 points or 1.24% to 8,614.90 and Germany’s DAX gained 385.96 points or 1.51% to 26,015.20, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 29.22 points or 0.27% to 10,868.05.