After oscillating between gains and losses, Indian equity benchmarks managed to end higher on Friday amid buying in Oil & Gas, Energy and Realty stocks. With all eyes on the impending US-India trade deal as the tariff deadline approaches, market participants were hopeful for a favorable outcome.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade: 

India likely to be subject to lower US tariffs compared to APAC nations: Moody's Ratings in its outlook on Asia Pacific sovereigns has said that India may be subject to lower tariffs than many countries in the Asia Pacific (APAC), which could help the economy attract further investment and become a global manufacturing base.

CII expects GDP to grow 6.4%-6.7% in FY26: The newly appointed Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President Rajiv Memani said that India's economy is expected to grow 6.4-6.7 per cent during the current financial year driven by strong domestic demand, even as geopolitical uncertainty poses downside risks.

Rupee rises against US Dollar: Indian rupee appreciated against the US dollar, tracking a decline in the American currency in the overseas market and a weak tone in crude oil prices. Asian currencies, including the rupee, gained ground on renewed hopes of trade deals with the US. 

Urgent steps needed to tackle reliance on Chinese imports: The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has raised concerns over China's export curbs on critical minerals which are crucial for India's electronics sectors and emphasize the need for urgent measures like reverse-engineering of low- to mid-tech imports to cut overreliance on Beijing.

Global front: European markets were trading in red as regional data disappointed. German factory orders decreased 1.4 percent from a month ago in May as the sharp fall in domestic demand offset the rise in orders from non-euro area economies. Asian markets ended mostly down on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats ahead of the July 9 deadline offset robust U.S. jobs data. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 193.42 points or 0.23% to 83,432.89 and the CNX Nifty was up by 55.70 points or 0.22% to 25,461.00.   

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 83,477.86 and 83,015.83 respectively. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.26%, Energy up by 0.90%, Realty up by 0.87%, IT up by 0.67% and Healthcare up by 0.64%, while Metal down by 0.46%, Consumer Disc down by 0.35%, Telecom down by 0.22%, Basic Materials down by 0.16% and Auto down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.60%, Infosys up by 1.36%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.19%, ICICI Bank up by 1.15% and HCL Technologies up by 0.92%. On the flip side, Trent down by 11.93%, Tata Steel down by 1.72%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.07%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.87% and Adani Ports &SEZ down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s growth prospects, the newly appointed Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President Rajiv Memani has said that the country’s economy is likely to grow 6.4-6.7 per cent during the current financial year (FY26) driven by strong domestic demand, even as geopolitical uncertainty poses downside risks. He made a strong case for simple three-tiered GST rate structure, with essential items attracting 5 per cent, luxury and sin goods at 28 per cent, and the remaining items in the 12-18 per cent bracket. Currently, goods and services tax (GST) is a four-tier tax structure with slabs at 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Luxury and demerit goods are taxed at the highest bracket of 28 per cent, while packed food and essential items are in the lowest 5 per cent slab.

On India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, he said factors, including a good monsoon forecast, and enhanced liquidity emanating from the Reserve Bank's cash reserve ratio (CRR) cut, and interest rate reduction will support the country's economic growth. Observing that there are some obvious risks, he said ‘A lot of these relate to external trade risk. I think a lot of them have been factored in, and also there are some upside. So hopefully they should get balanced out... From a CII standpoint, we're looking at 6.4-6.7 per cent growth’. He said risks to growth are evenly balanced, and ‘geopolitical uncertainty’ poses downside risks whereas ‘strong domestic demand’ is an upside.

Regarding the goods and services tax (GST), he emphasised on the need for rate rationalisation. Under GST 2.0, he said ‘we have called for rate rationalisation, especially on products that are consumed by lower income segments. Several products taxed at 28 per cent, including cement, should also be reduced... we believe this will boost economic activity’. He also batted for procedural simplification of GST framework and advocated for the need to build a national consensus on inclusion petroleum, electricity, real estate and potable alcohol in GST.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 25,470.25 and 25,331.65. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.  

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 1.74%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.45%, Infosys up by 1.30%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.21% and ICICI Bank up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Trent down by 11.37%, Tata Steel down by 1.69%, Eicher Motors down by 1.58%, IndusInd Bank down by 0.92% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.82% were the top losers.

European markets were trading in red; France’s CAC fell 76.5 points or 0.99% to 7,677.61, Germany’s DAX lost 180.72 points or 0.76% to 23,754.01 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 29.88 points or 0.34% to 8,792.78.