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Markets trade higher ahead RBI’s policy decision
Aug-05-2026

Indian equity benchmarks made a positive start on Wednesday as crude oil prices declined following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran. Sensex and Nifty were trading modestly higher in early deals ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) policy decision, with investors largely expecting interest rates to remain unchanged while watching for signals on the inflation and economic growth outlook. Also, market participants waiting for the HSBC services & Composite PMI Final data, to be out later in the day. Some support came as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Indian economy is set to cross $5-trillion mark in FY29 as per the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the government has adopted a broad-based growth strategy to achieve the milestone.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher, tracking a strong cued from Wall Street overnight and signs that Washington and Tehran could be moving closer to an agreement over the Strait of Hormuz.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78813.51, up by 384.56 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 78745.61 and 79055.38. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.50%, Auto up by 1.63%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.13% and Industrials up by 1.02%, Telecom up by 0.89%, while there was no loser on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Interglobe Aviation up by 1.97%, Trent up by 1.96%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.94%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.58% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.04%, Titan Company down by 0.49%, TCS down by 0.42%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.20% and HDFC Bank down by 0.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Indian economy is on track to cross the $5-trillion mark in FY29, in line with projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with the government pursuing a broad-based growth strategy to achieve the milestone. Citing the IMF's World Economic Outlook database (April 2026), she said India's GDP at current prices is projected to reach around $5.1 trillion in 2028-29. She said the government's growth strategy focuses on enhancing agricultural productivity, promoting manufacturing, supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), expanding infrastructure, improving logistics and ease of doing business, streamlining the tax system through income tax and GST reforms, fostering innovation and digitalisation, strengthening human capital, and ensuring energy security.

She added that the strategy is backed by sustained public capital expenditure, liberalisation of the foreign direct investment (FDI) regime, measures to boost exports, and prudent fiscal management aimed at maintaining macroeconomic stability and price stability. The government is also strengthening trade resilience by expanding its network of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership and Cooperation Agreements. To boost manufacturing, she said initiatives such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, Make in India, the National Logistics Policy, the National Single Window System and PM Gati Shakti are designed to enhance domestic production, attract investment, generate employment and improve competitiveness.

She said these initiatives are complemented by targeted measures to strengthen the MSME sector, including enhanced credit guarantees under the Emergency Credit Guarantee Scheme, revised MSME classification norms, a stronger Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) ecosystem, simplified Udyam Registration, wider access to the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), and support through the PM Vishwakarma Scheme. According to her, the services sector is being strengthened through the development and deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure, promotion of Global Capability Centres (GCCs), Medical Value Travel and the Orange Economy, expansion of the artificial intelligence and digital ecosystem, and targeted skill development initiatives to enhance workforce employability.

In agriculture, the government's focus is on raising productivity by facilitating investments in irrigation, technology adoption, digital agriculture, crop diversification, post-harvest infrastructure and improved market access. Sitharaman said recent Union Budgets have also prioritised strategic sectors such as semiconductors, electronics, biopharmaceuticals, rare earths, chemicals, capital goods, clean energy and advanced manufacturing as key drivers of economic growth. These efforts are supported by the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU) scheme, which aims to strengthen industry-aligned skilling and build a future-ready workforce for emerging sectors. Collectively, these measures are expected to strengthen India's medium-term growth prospects and support its long-term vision of achieving Viksit Bharat by 2047.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24628.05, up by 13.15 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 24604.60 and 24677.60. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.02%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.60%, Interglobe Aviation up by 1.47%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.16% and Grasim Industries up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Apollo Hospital down by 2.05%, Sun Pharma down by 1.24%, Cipla down by 0.90%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.81% and Nestle India down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 2047.47 points or 3.2% to 66,005.00, Taiwan Weighted added 1356.54 points or 3.13% to 44,717.20, KOSPI increased 261.08 points or 4.11% to 6,620.03, Shanghai Composite strengthened 51.28 points or 1.34% to 3,873.56, Hang Seng advanced 47.08 points or 0.18% to 25,900.00 and Jakarta Composite gained 26.64 points or 0.42% to 6,346.25, while Straits Times fell 24.08 points or 0.43% to 5,588.17.
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