Indian equity markets continued to trade lacklustre in late afternoon session as investors took cautious approach after Consumer prices in the US rose slightly more than expected in the month of July, raising expectation of Federal Reserve interest hike by the year-end. Trader also overlooked capital inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs). FIIs were the net buyers on Wednesday’s session, buying securities worth Rs 502.63 crore
Sensex was trading with a cut of over three tenth of a percent ahead of monthly and weekly expiry of its F&O contracts. Nifty was trading with a cut of two tenth of a percent weighed by weakness among HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Bharati Airtel, while buying in ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Eternal capped the losses.
On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mixed as traders waited Fed chair Kevin Warsh’s speech for further cues on interest rate trajectory. European equity markets were trading mostly in red amid lingering geopolitical tensions.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77209.47, down by 263.47 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 77088.74 and 77694.97. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.78%, Capital Goods up by 0.64%, Telecom up by 0.57%, Industrials up by 0.35% and Healthcare up by 0.29%, while Metal down by 1.08%, PSU down by 0.77%, Basic Materials down by 0.76%, Energy down by 0.74% and FMCG down by 0.70% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.23%, Titan Company up by 1.33%, ICICI Bank up by 1.00%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.95% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.83%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.07%, NTPC down by 1.98%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.63%, Trent down by 1.44% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.06% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India and Japan have discussed reviewing their current trade pact, with both sides looking to work towards further expanding the scope and providing new opportunities for this relationship to grow. Goyal, who is on a four-day official visit to Japan from August 24, is leading a large business delegation of over 200 representatives from different sectors. India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) came into effect from August 1, 2011. The CEPA review is a long-pending demand of India to balance the bilateral trade.
The minister said ‘we haven't got down to work on terms of reference, but I think once the teams have discussed, we will be open to expanding the scope, scale and the extent of the engagement because Japan today is one of our most strategic partners.’ He said both countries have big plans to strengthen the partnership, and added that both sides have also discussed the importance of balanced trade.
Bilateral trade between India and Japan grew 9.18 per cent to $27.47 billion (exports of $6.03 billion and imports of $21.43 billion) in 2025-26 from $25.16 billion in 2024-25. The trade deficit between the countries increased to $15.4 billion in FY26 from $12.66 billion in FY25. The deficit stood at $12.53 billion in FY24 and $11 billion in FY23.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24152.95, down by 54.80 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 24120.60 and 24297.45. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.17%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.35%, Titan Company up by 1.34%, ICICI Bank up by 1.33% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Hindalco Industries down by 2.88%, HDFC Bank down by 1.80%, NTPC down by 1.67%, Shriram Finance down by 1.30% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.27% were the top losers.
Asian equity markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 142.6 points or 0.31% to 45,975.22, KOSPI increased 104.16 points or 1.51% to 6,912.37, Shanghai Composite strengthened 44.05 points or 1.11% to 3,956.57 and Jakarta Composite gained 99.07 points or 1.52% to 6,504.76, while Nikkei 225 slipped 132.16 points or 0.2% to 66,130.00, Hang Seng declined 103.97 points or 0.41% to 25,549.00 and Straits Times fell 37.02 points or 0.65% to 5,684.57.
European equity markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 96.62 points or 0.89% to 10,781.50 and France’s CAC fell 80.49 points or 0.95% to 8,381.90, while Germany’s DAX gained 36.14 points or 0.14% to 26,322.10.
