Indian equity benchmarks closed marginally lower on Wednesday, ahead of weakly F&O expiry. After making a negative start, indices hovered around the neutral lines for most of the session, as sentiments remained subdued after U.S. President Donald Trump offered no exceptions to his August 1 tariff start date and announced a 50 percent tariff on copper imports, expanding trade measures already in place for steel and aluminum. In final hour of trade, markets drifted into the red and ended with modest losses.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

Foreign fund outflows: Traders remained cautious as exchange data showed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 26.12 crore on Tuesday.

India in talks with Australia to source rare earth minerals: Traders took note of an Australian official’s statement that India is in talks with Australia to source rare earth minerals. The development assumes significance in the wake of rare earth magnet shortage caused by Chinese export restrictions.

India could be among countries expected to finalise trade deal with US soon: Traders overlooked Economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative’s (GTRI) statement that India could be among the countries expected to finalise a trade deal with the US soon.

Global front: European markets were trading in green as traders waited for an update on the US-EU trade deal. Asian markets ended mostly in green after US President Donald Trump expanded his trade war with steep new tariffs targeting copper, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

The BSE Sensex ended at 83536.08, down by 176.43 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 83382.28 and 83781.36. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.05%, while Small cap index up by 0.45%.  (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.74%, Consumer Durables up by 0.47%, Auto up by 0.40%, Utilities up by 0.28% and Consumer discretionary up by 0.24%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.41%, Metal down by 1.41%, Realty down by 1.40%, Energy down by 0.99% and TECK down by 0.71% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.47%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.26%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.90%, Power Grid Corp up by 0.62% and Asian Paints up by 0.50%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 2.11%, Tata Steel down by 1.76%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.39%, Reliance Industries down by 1.16% and Bharat Electronics down by 0.84% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile,the Regional PF Commissioner-I Randhir Kumar of Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has said that the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) announced in the budget for 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 1 lakh crore, will promote job creation and provide social security. Kumar said that the scheme is aimed at incentivising creation of 35 million jobs over a period of two years, that it will be effective from August 1, 2025, and to continue till July 31, 2027. He said out of the total of 35 million, 19.2 million beneficiaries will be first-timers entering the workforce.

He said the thrust of the scheme is on the manufacturing sector, adding that you get benefits under the scheme, the establishments need to be registered with the EPFO. For first-time employees, the scheme provides for a maximum amount of Rs 15,000 per annum to be paid in two instalments.

The employers will also get incentives by getting an amount of Rs 3,000 per month for each additional and sustained employment generated. Moreover, he added that the benefits will be extended by two years for the manufacturing sector.

The CNX Nifty ended at 25476.10, down by 46.40 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 25424.35 and 25548.70. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 1.76%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.40%, Coal India up by 1.35%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.22% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.94%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 2.05%, Tata Steel down by 1.71%, Hindalco down by 1.70%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.51% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.41% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; France’s CAC rose 103.36 points or 1.33% to 7,870.07, Germany’s DAX gained 264.33 points or 1.09% to 24,471.24 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 22.54 points or 0.25% to 8,876.72.