Indian equity benchmarks ended slightly higher on Wednesday, supported by steady gains in metal, IT and auto stocks. Markets made a gap-up opening tracking an overnight recovery on Wall Street, while traders also took support from developments related to India’s free trade agreements with other countries. However, in afternoon session, markets erased most of their gains to trade near neutral lines, as investors turned cautious amid rising US-Iran geopolitical tensions.

Some of the important factors in trade:

India’s economic growth likely at 8.1% in Q3FY26: Sentiments remained upbeat as research report from State Bank of India's (SBI’s) Economic Research Department has showed that the Indian economy is likely to record a growth rate close to 8.1 per cent for the September-December quarter of current fiscal year (Q3FY26) under the revised series with the new base year of 2022-23.

India, Canada may finalise ToR for initiating talks for FTA this week: Traders took some support with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that India and Canada may finalise terms of reference (ToR) for initiating talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) as early as this week.

India, GCC sign joint statement: Traders took note of India and the Gulf Cooperation Council signing the Joint Statement for a FTA, marking a major step towards deeper collaboration in key strategic areas.

On the global front: European equity markets were trading in green, while Asian markets ended mostly in green, after Anthropic announced new partnerships, helping ease artificial-intelligence disruption concerns.

The BSE Sensex ended at 82276.07, up by 50.15 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 82132.63 and 82957.91. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.64%, Auto up by 1.82%, Basic Materials up by 1.49%, IT up by 1.39% and Healthcare up by 1.35%, while Telecom down by 0.97%, FMCG down by 0.32%, Realty down by 0.13% and Energy down by 0.09% were the few losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 2.80%, Tata Steel up by 2.63%, TCS up by 2.14%, Interglobe Aviation up by 1.95% and Sun Pharma up by 1.84%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.23%, SBI down by 1.93%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 1.72%, Eternal down by 1.46% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.39% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, ratings agency ICRA in its latest report has said that Indian aviation industry’s net loss is likely to reduce to Rs 11,000 crore -12,000 crore in the next financial year (FY27) from a projected Rs 17,000 crore-18,000 crore in FY26, led by growth in domestic air passenger traffic and expected normalisation of operations post disruptions seen in 2025-26 that had resulted in flight cancellations and passenger refunds.

ICRA said domestic air passenger traffic is expected to grow by 6-8 per cent, reaching around 175-179 million passengers in FY27. In December 2025, ICRA had revised its forecasts for the domestic air passenger traffic growth in FY26 to 0-3 per cent reaching 165-170 million, lower than its previous expectations of 4-6 per cent on a YoY basis. ICRA has maintained a ‘stable outlook’ for the Indian aviation industry, supported by expectations of modest growth in domestic air passenger traffic and a gradually improving operating environment, despite near-term challenges.

According to the report, the international air passenger traffic growth for Indian carriers is expected to remain relatively stronger, aided by low base effect, expanding e-visa/visa-on-arrival coverage, and the Central Government's focus on developing theme-based and iconic tourist destinations. It said the international air passenger traffic is seen growing at 7-9 per cent for this financial year and 8-10 per cent next year, and added that the current fiscal year has seen a period of modest domestic air passenger traffic growth due to cross-border escalations, weather-related disruptions, travel hesitancy following the June 2025 aircraft accident, the impact on business travel owing to the headwinds stemming from elevated US tariffs and operational disruptions at IndiGo in December 2025.

The CNX Nifty ended at 25482.50, up by 57.85 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 25428.20 and 25652.60. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 2.91%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.73%, Tata Steel up by 2.63%, Shriram Finance up by 2.28% and Adani Enterprises up by 2.23%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.12%, SBI down by 1.90%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 1.72%, Eternal down by 1.50% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.42% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 99.79 points or 0.93% to 10,780.38, Germany’s DAX gained 147.65 points or 0.59% to 25,133.90 and France’s CAC rose 31.19 points or 0.36% to 8,550.40.