Indian equity markets continued to trade lower in afternoon session amid continued selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). FIIs were the net sellers on Wednesday’s trade, offloading equities worth Rs 1,527.71 crore. Besides, investors paid no heed towards External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying, ‘India is strengthening its relationship with Europe and both sides can bring greater stability to the international economy and global politics’. Further, traders took a cautious approach amid US President’s recent threats of increasing tariffs on Indian goods coming in the US. 

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red amid escalating China-Japan tensions. European equity markets were trading mostly in red as investors monitored the latest U.S.-Venezuela developments and awaited upcoming U.S. labor market data for additional clues on the Federal Reserve's trajectory. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84384.76, down by 576.38 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 84207.45 and 84965.27. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.71%, while Small cap index was down by 1.73%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas down by 3.09%, Metal down by 3.06%, Energy down by 2.54%, Basic Materials down by 2.12% and PSU down by 2.05%. Meanwhile, there were no gainers on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 0.96%, ICICI Bank up by 0.81%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.66%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.48% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.19%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.89%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.86%, Reliance Industries down by 2.14%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.99% and Infosys down by 1.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, With India’s steady rise in global science and innovation indicators, Secretary of Department of Science and Technology (DST) Abhay Karandikar has highlighted India’s ranking among the top three countries globally in science and engineering publications and PhD production. He also added that the country has reached sixth position worldwide in patent filings by resident Indians. 

Karandikar also emphasized improved position of India in the Global Innovation Index which reached from 90th to 30th over the last decade, reflecting sustained efforts to strengthen the research and innovation ecosystem. Apart from this, DST Secretary listed key sectoral missions which are helping to shape India’s future technology landscape, such as the National Quantum Mission, development of sovereign AI models for Indian languages and public-sector applications, and bio-manufacturing initiatives under the Bio-E3 policy, citing early successes in indigenous quantum technologies and India-specific AI models. 

The Secretary further said that enhancing industry-academia collaboration and increasing private sector participation in R&D are essential to bridge the gap between laboratory research and societal and economic impact. He also highlighted initiatives such as the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) and the Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) fund to support deep-tech and high-impact projects.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25932.50, down by 208.25 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 25884.15 and 26133.20. There were 7 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 0.86%, Eternal up by 0.82%, SBI Life Insurance Company up by 0.62%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.53% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.32%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.55%, ONGC down by 3.05%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.02%, Jio Financial Services down by 3.00% and Wipro down by 2.94% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 683.98 points or 1.33% to 51,278.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 74.92 points or 0.25% to 30,360.55, Hang Seng declined 321.95 points or 1.23% to 26,137.00, Hang Seng declined 321.95 points or 1.23% to 26,137.00, Straits Times fell 9.77 points or 0.21% to 4,737.85, Shanghai Composite weakened 2.79 points or 0.07% to 4,082.98 and Jakarta Composite plunged 14.5 points or 0.16% to 8,930.31, while KOSPI increased 1.31 points or 0.03% to 4,552.37.

European equity markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 24.31 points or 0.24% to 10,023.90 and France’s CAC fell 6.12 points or 0.07% to 8,227.80, while Germany’s DAX gained 119.74 points or 0.48% to 25,242.00.