Indian equity markets continued to trade lower in late afternoon session following the US President Donald Trump’s fresh tariff threats. The US President Donald Trump has threatened to substantially increase the tariffs on goods coming from India to US and accused that the country profited from Russia's war in Ukraine by purchasing large quantities of Russian oil and reselling it on the global market. Besides, persistent foreign funds outflows by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continue to weigh on investors’ sentiments. The FIIs were the net seller on yesterday’s trade, offloading equities worth Rs 2,566.51 crore. However, downside remained capped as HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index grew to 60.5 in July from 60.4 in June indicating India’s services sector continued a strong growth momentum in the month of July.

On the global front, all Asian equity markets were trading higher after a Federal Reserve official said the time is nearing for rate cuts. All European equity markets were trading higher as investors digested a slew of earnings updates and held onto hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve may soon pivot to monetary easing.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80643.56, down by 375.16 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 80554.40 and 81010.49. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.41%, while Small cap index was down by 0.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.15%, Basic Materials up by 0.05%, Capital Goods up by 0.05%, Consumer Durables up by 0.01% and Industrials up by 0.01%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.19%, Realty down by 1.01%, Energy down by 0.96%, FMCG down by 0.72% and Healthcare down by 0.67% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 2.03%, Trent up by 1.32%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.26%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.60% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.13%, Reliance Industries down by 1.44%, Infosys down by 1.37%, ICICI Bank down by 1.35% and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries down by 0.81% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) has underlined the need for focusing on industrial and infrastructure electronics to achieve the $500 billion electronics manufacturing target by 2030-31. It said the future of India's electronics industry lies not only in the manufacturing of products, but equally in the manufacturing of goods that will automate factories, cities, and transportation networks.

Accordingly, ICEA has said industrial electronics must be front and centre of India's electronics growth strategy. It said India must invest in talent pipelines, research and development and incentives to grow this sector and added that the country should aim to become not just a user of industrial electronics, but a global design and manufacturing hub for it.

Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of ICEA, has stressed that the industrial electronics segment must be recognised as a national strategic priority. He said it is the brain and nervous system of every advanced manufacturing setup. Without leadership in industrial automation, India cannot claim true manufacturing leadership. He noted that industrial electronics has massive potential for high-skilled employment, particularly in areas such as embedded systems, automation software, robotics, and AI-integrated systems.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24614.70, down by 108.05 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 24592.00 and 24733.10. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 1.87%, Indusind Bank up by 1.60%, SBI Life Insurance Company up by 1.34%, Trent up by 1.33% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.25%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.26%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.71%, Reliance Industries down by 1.54%, Infosys down by 1.38% and Cipla down by 1.32% were the top losers.  

All Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 251.3 points or 0.62 to 40,542.00, Hang Seng advanced 45.55 points or 0.18 to 24,779.00, Taiwan Weighted added 281.65 points or 1.19 to 23,660.59, Straits Times rose 13.91 points or 0.33 to 4,211.14, KOSPI increased 50.25 points or 1.57 to 3,198.00, Jakarta Composite gained 41.27 points or 0.55 to 7,505.92 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 34.29 points or 0.95 to 3,617.60.

All European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 31.55 points or 0.35 to 9,159.85, France’s CAC rose 9.79 points or 0.13 to 7,641.80 and Germany’s DAX gained 99.91 points or 0.42 to 23,857.60.