Key gauges add gains in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended their gains in late morning deals, tracking gains across Asian markets. Traders took support with Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) data showed that surplus liquidity in the banking system has surged to a record high of Rs 9.71 lakh crore, boosted by flows received under the FCNR (B) scheme of the RBI. Traders also took a note of the report stated that the India-New Zealand free trade agreement is likely to come into force next month. On April 27, the two countries signed the free trade agreement (FTA) to boost the two-way commerce in goods and services and promote investments. Traders overlooked exchange data showed foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 2,345.87 crore on Thursday.  

Both Sensex and Nifty were trading higher in late morning deals, but the indices showed a divergence in gains. The BSE Sensex was trading with gains of over 0.80%, supported by gains in select heavyweight stocks from sectors such as Telecom, Banking, PSU and TECK. Similarly, the Nifty 50 was trading with gains of around half percent on account of buying in index heavyweights, namely SBI Life Insurance, HDFC Life Insurance and Reliance Industries. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following the positive cues from Wall Street overnight, after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller suggested that another rate hike may not be necessary if upcoming inflation data remains moderate. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76784.37, up by 631.51 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 76529.50 and 76792.58. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.95%, Bankex up by 0.58%, PSU up by 0.52%, TECK up by 0.49% and Utilities up by 0.48%, while Capital Goods down by 0.23% and Healthcare down by 0.09% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.97%, Trent up by 1.82%, HDFC Bank up by 1.41%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.38% and Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 0.77%, Sun Pharma down by 0.06% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) President Shailesh Chandra said India’s automotive industry continues to be a key driver of economic growth, contributing more than Rs 22.75 lakh crore to the economy. The industry also accounts for around 15 per cent of the country’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections and provides direct and indirect employment to more than 30 million people.  

Highlighted the industry’s performance across domestic and export markets in FY2025-26, he said passenger vehicle sales reached a record 4.6 million units in FY26, up 7.9 per cent year-on-year, while exports rose 17.5 per cent to an all-time high of 0.91 million units. The two-wheeler segment recorded its highest-ever domestic sales of 21.71 million units in FY26, a growth of 10.7 per cent year-on-year. Two-wheeler exports registered a growth of 23.4 per cent in FY26, amounting to 5.18 million units. Similarly, three-wheeler domestic sales grew 12.8 per cent to 8.4 lakh units in FY26, while exports jumped 50.1 per cent to 4.6 lakh units. The commercial vehicle industry clocked highest-ever domestic sales of 10.80 lakh units with a growth of 12.6 per cent in FY26, and exports grew at 17.4 per cent to 95,000 units.   

Alongside this growth, SIAM President said the industry has made significant strides in aligning with global and national priorities of sustainability, decarbonisation, and safety. He also said the entire auto industry moved to manufacturing fully E20-compliant gasoline vehicles from April 1, 2025. The move supports the government's objectives of reducing dependence on crude imports and strengthening energy security. As part of this initiative, in recent months, the auto industry has seen commercial launches and demonstrations of flex fuel vehicles by some OEMs.  

Talking on electrification, he said the share of electric vehicles (EVs) in the new vehicle fleet continued to grow in double digits across passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and three-wheelers in FY26. Total EV registrations in India rose to 2.5 million units in FY26 from 1.97 million units in FY25, marking a 24.7 per cent increase. He noted that the strong momentum in EV adoption has been made possible through close collaboration across the industry, with the Government of India's PM E-DRIVE scheme providing a significant impetus to accelerate the transition.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23974.70, up by 101.25 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 23895.85 and 23976.10. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life Insurance up by 2.80%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.09%, Reliance Industries up by 1.88%, Trent up by 1.56% and Adani Enterprises up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.40%, Eicher Motors down by 0.85%, ONGC down by 0.78%, Maruti Suzuki India down by 0.65% and Sun Pharma down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 779.52 points or 1.21% to 64,994.00, Taiwan Weighted added 543.77 points or 1.19% to 46,401.43, Shanghai Composite strengthened 18.43 points or 0.47% to 3,960.52, KOSPI increased 129.34 points or 1.97% to 6,708.82, Hang Seng advanced 524.69 points or 2.04% to 25,738.00 and Straits Times rose 64.02 points or 1.11% to 5,811.73.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite plunged 7.1 points or 0.11% to 6,660.79.