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Markets trade slightly higher after negative start; IIP data eyed
Oct-28-2025

Indian equity benchmarks made flat-to-negative start on Tuesday amid weakness in Asian counterparts and ahead of monthly expiry for the Nifty F&O October series. Markets were struggling for direction, but soon gained some traction and were trading slightly higher in early deals ahead of release India's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data later in the day. Some cautiousness came as the NCAER in its latest Survey said that business sentiments in India moderated in Q2FY26, following three consecutive quarters of improvement, amid high global uncertainties, including additional US tariffs. Besides, India's crude oil imports from the United States climbed to their highest level since 2022 in October.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as traders remain cautious and are reluctant to take major positions ahead of the monetary policy announcements from the European Central Bank, the US Fed and the Bank of Japan this week. Optimism about a potential U.S.-China trade deal and an interest rate cut by the Fed are aiding market sentiments.

Back home, stocks related to electronics components were in focus as Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the government has approved seven projects worth Rs 5,532 crore, out of 249 proposals received under the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84943.56, up by 164.72 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 84609.66 and 84986.94. 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 0.25%, while Small cap index was up by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.72%, Metal up by 0.67%, Auto up by 0.46%, Basic Materials up by 0.44% and Industrials up by 0.41%, while Realty down by 0.50%, Consumer Durables down by 0.12% and IT down by 0.02% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.22%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.97%, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles up by 0.88%, SBI up by 0.87% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.84%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 0.88%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.39%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.34%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.17% and Infosys down by 0.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in its latest Business Expectations Survey has said that business sentiments in India moderated in the second quarter of the current fiscal year (Q2FY26), following three consecutive quarters of improvement, amid high global uncertainties, including additional US tariffs. The NCAER said the quarter was also marked by GST reforms and a reduction in tax rates, whose effects are expected to be felt over the remaining two quarters.

The Business Confidence Index (BCI) moderated to 142.6 in the second quarter of 2025-26 from 149.4 in the first quarter, though it was higher than the corresponding Q2 of 2024-25 (134.3). The BCI is based on four components: overall economic conditions to improve in the next six months, financial position of firms will improve in the next six months, present investment climate and whether present capacity utilisation was close to or above the optimal level. The BCI was driven down by the moderation of sentiments in three of the four components, except present capacity utilisation, which saw an improvement.

Overall, the share of positive responses remained above 50 per cent in the second quarter for all four components, signalling a relatively slower growth momentum. The latest round (134th) of the quarterly Survey was carried out in September 2025, covering 484 respondents (companies) spread across six cities, days after the Trump Administration announced additional tariffs on Indian goods. Noting that sentiments differed across firm size, the survey revealed that the BCI for MSMEs (turnover of Rs 100 crore or less) marginally went up from 137 in Q1 in 2025-26 to 138 in Q2. However, for large firms (annual turnover of over Rs 100 crore), BCI went down from 171.6 in Q1 to 149.9 in Q2.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 26019.50, up by 53.45 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 25929.65 and 26041.70. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 1.42%, Tata Steel up by 1.29%, SBI Life Insurance up by 0.99%, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles up by 0.93% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.90%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.02%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.58%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.56%, Interglobe Aviation down by 0.28% and Wipro down by 0.27% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 121.32 points or 0.24% to 50,391.00, KOSPI dropped 51.44 points or 1.27% to 3,991.39, Jakarta Composite lost 21.73 points or 0.27% to 8,095.42 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 6.02 points or 0.02% to 27,987.61. On the other hand, Hang Seng advanced 48.3 points or 0.18% to 26,482.00, Straits Times rose 29.24 points or 0.66% to 4,469.54 and Shanghai Composite was up by 8.5 points or 0.21% to 4,005.44.
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