Indian stocks settle with marginal gains; uncertainty looms over US trade deadline

New Delhi [India], July 30 : Domestic equity benchmarks settled marginally higher Wednesday, possibly due to some fresh buying, but analysts are of the view that uncertainty around the India-US trade front will continue to remain key headwinds.

Sensex closed at 81,481.86 points, up 143.91 points or 0.18 per cent, while Nifty closed at 24,855.05 points, up 33.95 points or 0.14 per cent. Both indices started the session largely flat.

"The major drag on the market continues to be the negative news on the India-US trade front. President Trump's comment that 'India may have to pay 20-25% tariff' is very negative from the short-term market perspective," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Also, the US Fed monetary policy decision today is unlikely to impact the market, Vijayakumar added.

"Weakness in the market due to these headwinds can be used by long-term investors to slowly accumulate fairly valued high-quality stocks," he added.

Among sectors, selective buying was seen in capital goods stocks, whereas the Realty and Media indices continued to experience profit booking at higher levels, Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities, said.

The benchmark indices faced substantial selling pressure at higher levels over the past few sessions, with analysts indicating that the India-US new interim deal is unlikely to be finalised before the August 1 deadline. On Sunday, the US administration indicated that the August 1 deadline wouldn't be extended further.

At a broader level, however, India's strong domestic fundamentals, a responsive RBI, and good monsoon conditions have been supporting the financial markets. A comfortable inflation number in India is another positive.

In 2025 so far, Sensex rose around 4 per cent.

In 2024, Sensex and Nifty accumulated a growth of about 9-10 per cent each. In 2023, Sensex and Nifty gained 16-17 per cent, on a cumulative basis. In 2022, they gained a mere 3 per cent each.

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