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Indian markets maintain gains in early noon deals
Jul-16-2026

Indian equity benchmarks maintained their gains in early afternoon deals, however upside remained capped tracking negative cues from global markets amid unease in West Asia. Traders remained optimistic, as S C Ralhan, President of FIEO has noted that implementation of the India-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (India-UK FTA) marks a historic milestone in India's export journey. It opens a new chapter in the country’s economic partnership with one of India's most important trading partners and provides Indian exporters with preferential market access, greater certainty, and enhanced competitiveness in the UK market.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after the Bank of Korea raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2023 on Thursday as inflation is projected to stay above 2 percent target for a considerable time. The Monetary Policy Board of the Bank of Korea unanimously decided to hike the base rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77397.07, up by 211.64 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 77276.52 and 77579.69. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.36%, TECK up by 1.20%, Consumer Durables up by 1.07%, Oil & Gas up by 0.58% and Telecom up by 0.58%, while Realty down by 0.58% and Bankex down by 0.28% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 2.46%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.71%, TCS up by 1.54%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.47% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.42%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 1.68%, Axis Bank down by 0.97%, HDFC Bank down by 0.41%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.38% and ICICI Bank down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid escalating tensions in West Asia, the government of India has hiked the windfall gains tax on exports of diesel and ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) beginning July 16, 2026. The rate of Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on diesel exports has been increased to Rs 15.5 per litre from Rs 8.5 per litre. Similarly, SAED on ATF exports has been raised to Rs 14.5 per litre from Rs 7.5 per litre till July 15. However, the export duty on petrol has been cut to Rs 2.5 per litre, from Rs 4 per litre.

The Finance ministry has noted that there is no change in the existing duty rates on petrol and diesel cleared for domestic consumption. Earlier, on March 27, the government had imposed an export duty on diesel and ATF and revised the rates every fortnight amid West Asia tensions. Further, an export duty was also imposed on petrol on May 16. 

The windfall tax was aimed at increasing domestic availability of the fuel and barring exporters to take undue advantage due to price differences as globally crude oil prices had risen since the beginning of the war.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24130.40, up by 51.90 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 24097.05 and 24186.50. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 2.48%, TCS up by 1.65%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.62%, Interglobe Aviation up by 1.50% and Wipro up by 1.49%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.10%, Eternal down by 1.93%, Axis Bank down by 0.66%, Shriram Finance down by 0.63% and Bharat Electronics down by 0.60% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI dropped 463.81 points or 6.8% to 6,820.60, Taiwan Weighted lost 6.61 points or 0.01% to 45,624.98, Nikkei 225 slipped 1980.51 points or 2.97% to 66,771.00, Straits Times fell 30.53 points or 0.55% to 5,529.19 and Shanghai Composite weakened 73.17 points or 1.88% to 3,882.41, while Hang Seng advanced 329.9 points or 1.34% to 25,011.00 and Jakarta Composite gained 38.26 points or 0.63% to 6,080.23.
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