Nifty trades above 23,700 level; European mkt opens higher

The headline equity benchmarks traded with modest gains in the afternoon trade, supported by upbeat global markets. Sentiment stayed positive as tensions in the West Asia showed signs of cooling. Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated following another increase in fuel prices by the government.

The Nifty traded above the 23,700 level. Barring private banking stocks, all sectoral indices on the NSE traded in the green.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 295.71 points or 0.39% to 75,610.75. The Nifty 50 index added 81.85 points or 0.34% to 23,733.25.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index rose 1.15% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index jumped 1.35%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,660 shares rose and 1,350 shares fell. A total of 201 shares were unchanged.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 96.4200 compared with its close of 96.2000 during the previous trading session. It also touched an all-time intraday low of 96.3850 in early trade.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for July 2026 settlement dropped $2.01 or 1.79% to $110.03 a barrel.

Fuel Hike:

Fuel prices were increased again on Tuesday, with petrol and diesel rates rising by up to 90 paise per liter across major cities, marking the second hike in less than a week. The latest revision follows a sharp Rs 3 per liter increase announced on Friday.

In Delhi, petrol prices rose by 87 paise to Rs 98.64 per litre from Rs 97.77, while diesel prices increased by 91 paise to Rs 91.58 per litre from Rs 90.67.

In Mumbai, petrol prices climbed 91 paise to Rs 107.59 per liter, while diesel rose 94 paise to Rs 94.08 per liter.

Kolkata recorded the sharpest increase in petrol prices, which surged 96 paise to Rs 109.70 per liter. Diesel prices in the city advanced 94 paise to Rs 96.07 per liter. In Chennai, petrol prices increased by 82 paise to Rs 104.49 per litre, while diesel prices moved up 86 paise to Rs 96.11 per litre.

Gainers & Losers:

Infosys (up 4.15%), Tech Mahindra (up 3.45%), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (up 3.17%), HCL Technologies (up 2.93%) and ETERNAL (up 2.72%) were the major Nifty50 gainers.

Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.79%), UltraTech Cement (down 1.34%), Coal India (down 1.17%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.14%) and Tata Consumer Products (down 1.10%) were the major Nifty50 losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) advanced 2.84% after the company's standalone net profit surged 56.61% to Rs 11,377.51 crore in Q4 FY26 compared with Rs 7,264.85 crore in Q4 FY25. Revenue from operations (excluding excise duty) rose 6.62% YoY to Rs 2,07,883.23 crore in Q4 FY26 as against Rs 1,94,967.02 crore reported in Q4 FY25.

Afcons Infrastructure declined 2.82% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 88.40 crore in Q4 FY26, compared with a net profit of Rs 110.93 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Revenue from operations fell 18.9% YoY to Rs 2,613.84 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2026.

Astral fell 5.81%. The company reported an 18.79% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 213 crore for Q4 FY26, compared with Rs 179.3 crore in Q4 FY25. Revenue from operations rose 24.21% YoY to Rs 2,088.5 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2026.

Timken India rallied 3.82%. The company has reported 16.8% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 158.31 crore despite a 14.5% increase in revenue to Rs 1,089.83 crore in Q4 FY26 as compared with Q4 FY25.

DOMS Industries slipped 1.61%. The company reported a 17.1% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 56.7 crore in Q4 FY26 as against Rs 48.4 crore posted in Q4 FY25.

Vascon Engineers hit an upper circuit of 5% after the company said that it has received a Letter of Intent worth Rs 131.58 crore from Reliance Industries for construction works at its Jamnagar expansion project.

Global Markets:

European markets opened broadly higher on Tuesday as traders assess the geopolitical landscape and developments in the Middle East.

Asian markets traded mixed on Tuesday as oil prices, while elevated, eased slightly following news that President Donald Trump was postponing a scheduled attack on Iran.

Trump said in a social media post that U.S. military leaders were informed to call off a scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow' after requests from the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

A Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond. This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!,' Trump added.

However, Trump cautioned that he has informed his military leaders to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment's notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.'

Despite the fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, the vital Strait of Hormuz remains closed by Tehran, while the U.S. continues to blockade Iranian ports.

On the data front, investors assessed Japan's first-quarter GDP data, which showed the economy grew at an annualised 2.1% in the first three months of the year. The growth was sharply higher than the widely reported average estimate of 1.7% and higher than the 1.3% in the previous quarter. These figures do not capture the full impact of the Iran war, which started at the end of February.

A summit meeting between Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung later today will also be in focus.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 fell on Monday, bogged down by declines in technology, as traders monitored oil prices and bond yields while awaiting further developments with the conflict in the Middle East.

The broad market benchmark dropped 0.07% to end at 7,403.05, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 0.51% and closed at 26,090.73. It was the second straight day of declines for both indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 159.95 points, or 0.32%, at 49,686.12.

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