Indian equity markets have made positive start and are trading higher with gains of over one percent in early deals on Monday on firm cues from other Asian markets. Hectic buying in Maruti Suzuki, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports and Asian Paints companies’ stocks helped both the Sensex and Nifty to trade above their psychological 77,700 and 24, 250 levels respectively. Sentiments got boost as the government data has showed that total Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose to a record of Rs 2,42,702 crore in April 2026 as compared to Rs 2,23,265 crore in April 2025, a growth of 8.7%. Meanwhile, the counting of votes in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry election is underway.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher as market participants assessed U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement to free ships that have been trapped due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, amid lingering tensions between Tehran and Washington. Back home, all the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in green led by Auto, Realty, Consumer Disc, FMCG and Bankex. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77746.00, up by 832.50 points or 1.08% after trading in a range of 77229.89 and 77786.54. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 2.11%, Realty up by 1.53%, Consumer Disc up by 1.26%, FMCG up by 1.21% and Bankex up by 1.17%, while there were no losers. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.01%, Hindustan Unilever up by 3.91%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.43%, Adani Ports up by 2.31% and Asian Paints up by 2.22%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.07%, TCS down by 0.42%, Eternal down by 0.38%, Titan down by 0.17% and ITC down by 0.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government data has showed that total Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose to a record of Rs 2,42,702 crore in April 2026 as compared to Rs 2,23,265 crore in April 2025, a growth of 8.7%. The growth was driven by higher import revenues despite the West Asia-related geopolitical headwinds. Collections are typically strong in April, reflecting year-end book reconciliations by businesses in March.

Of the total, gross domestic revenue was Rs 1,85,122 crore (a growth of 4.3% over previous year) and gross import revenue was Rs 57,580 crore (a growth of 25.8% over previous year). Of the total gross GST revenue, CGST (Central GST) was Rs 52,140 crore, SGST (State GST) was Rs 61,331 crore and IGST (Integrated GST) was Rs 1,29,232 crore. Total Refund issuance during April rose 19.3% to Rs 31,793 crore. After adjusting refunds, net GST revenues in April 2026 stood at about Rs 2,10,909 crore, up 7.3% as compared to Rs 1,96,618 crore in the same month of previous year. 

According to the data, several states such as Maharashtra (+40%), Karnataka (+42%), Telangana (+36%) and Puducherry (+108%) recorded strong YoY SGST growth in April, while some states like Ladakh (-8%) and Jharkhand (0%) saw declines or no change.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24261.00, up by 263.45 points or 1.10% after trading in a range of 24061.85 and 24269.45. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 4.19%, Maruti Suzuki up by 3.98%, Hindustan Unilever up by 3.54%, Shriram Finance up by 2.95% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.75%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.69%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.72%, ONGC down by 0.72%, TCS down by 0.28% and Titan down by 0.18% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 228.2 points or 0.38% to 59,513.12, Taiwan Weighted added 1797.88 points or 4.62% to 40,724.51, Jakarta Composite gained 41.27 points or 0.59% to 6,998.07, Shanghai Composite strengthened 4.65 points or 0.11% to 4,112.16, KOSPI increased 304.85 points or 4.62% to 6,903.72, Hang Seng advanced 432.47 points or 1.65% to 26,209.00 and Straits Times rose 30.66 points or 0.62% to 4,943.35.