FX.co ★ Sensex Ends Slightly Negative

The BSE Sensex in India concluded the day with a slight decline of approximately 0.3%, settling at 83,409.7 on Wednesday. This downturn was primarily driven by weaker performances in the financials, realty, and oil & gas sectors, which overshadowed the gains observed in the metals and consumer durables segments. A continued trend of selling by foreign institutional investors added additional pressure on the market. However, optimistic remarks from former President Trump regarding a potential US-India trade agreement played a role in mitigating the losses. On Tuesday, Trump stated that negotiations for a trade deal with India were nearing completion. Such an agreement could potentially avert a proposed 26% reciprocal tariff scheduled to be implemented on July 9, after being initially announced in April. In corporate news, notable decliners included Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Kotak Bank, which saw their shares decrease between 0.9% and 2.1%. Conversely, metal stocks, particularly Tata Steel, stood out with a strong performance, advancing by 3.6%, buoyed by declining coking coal prices and efforts within companies to reduce costs. Additionally, other firms showed substantial gains, with Asian Paints increasing by 2.6%, UltraTech Cement rising 1.6%, Trent up 1.5%, and Maruti ascending by 1.4%.