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Key gauges continue to trade higher in morning deals
Aug-18-2025

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, buoyed by plans for big bang reforms in the GST regime by Diwali and S&P upgrading India's sovereign credit rating. Auto, consumer discretionary and consumer durables stocks propelled the rally in the equity markets. Traders took support with Export-Import Bank of India (India Exim Bank) forecasts total merchandise exports to amount to $108.1 billion, a growth of 4.5 per cent, while non-oil exports are forecast to amount $92.1 billion, with a growth of 5.2 per cent, during July-September of FY26. Some support also came as the commerce ministry data showed that the India's goods exports to the US grown 19.94% to $8.01 billion in the month of July, meanwhile, country’s imports from US increased 13.78% to about $4.55 billion during the month. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green amid expectations of the three-year-plus war between Russia and Ukraine ending soon, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying he and Russian President Putin discussed land transfers and security guarantees for Ukraine, and had ‘largely agreed’.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81605.80, up by 1008.14 points or 1.25% after trading in a range of 81315.79 and 81765.77. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.44%, while Small cap index was up by 1.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 4.61%, Consumer Discretionary up by 3.01%, Consumer Durables up by 2.77%, Realty up by 2.70% and Basic Materials up by 2.07%, while IT down by 0.13% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 7.56%, Bajaj Finance up by 6.20%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.92%, Ultratech Cement up by 4.50% and Bajaj Finserv up by 4.29%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.86%, Infosys down by 0.50%, Sun Pharma down by 0.46%, Eternal down by 0.44% and HCL Technologies down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has said that India is facing tough choices in responding to steep US tariffs - from negotiating or retaliating to diversifying export markets or offering trade concessions like ending Russian oil imports - but each option carries its own mix of benefits and risks.

It said that India marks its Independence Day this year under the shadow of a bruising trade confrontation with Washington. The Trump administration's decision to slap a 50 per cent country-specific tariff on most Indian goods, on top of existing most favoured nation duties, has thrust India into a strategic dilemma that could reshape its trade, energy, and diplomatic positioning.

GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said ‘For New Delhi, the choices ahead are stark - negotiate, retaliate, diversify markets, or trade concessions such as ending purchases of Russian oil for tariff relief. Each option carries a different mix of gains and risks.’ He added that India will require structural reforms and aggressive trade diplomacy to absorb the high tariffs and diversify the country's exports to Europe, ASEAN, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.

He stated ‘Gains in the first two years might recover only $1015 billion of the $50 billion lost.’ If US tariffs would raise consumer prices and unemployment in America, he said, domestic political pressure could force the Trump administration a cut to around 15 per cent for all countries. He said India's best role here is to quietly highlight the tariffs' cost to American voters.’ He added that in an era when economic power is used as a weapon, survival isn't about avoiding confrontation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24986.00, up by 354.70 points or 1.44% after trading in a range of 24884.30 and 25022.00. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 7.35%, Hero MotoCorp up by 6.73%, Nestle up by 6.32%, Bajaj Finance up by 6.09% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 5.01%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.83%, Infosys down by 0.57%, HCL Technologies down by 0.56%, Eternal down by 0.41% and Sun Pharma down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 403.69 points or 0.93% to 43,782.00, Taiwan Weighted added 166.98 points or 0.69% to 24,501.46, Shanghai Composite strengthened 47.01 points or 1.27% to 3,743.78 and Hang Seng advanced 111.93 points or 0.44% to 25,382.00.

On the flip side, Straits Times fell 33.3 points or 0.79% to 4,197.23 and KOSPI dropped 39.33 points or 1.22% to 3,186.33. 
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