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Informist, Thursday, Jul. 2, 2026

By Arya S. Biju

MUMBAI – Benchmark equity indices ended higher as crude oil prices fell to its lowest level since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, amid signs of progress in indirect US-Iran negotiations and as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continued, improving supply. Gains in the Nifty 50 were supported by a sharp rebound in information technology stocks following their recent weakness and gains in select automobile stocks reacting to their strong monthly sales figures. 

The Nifty 50 index settled at 24175.70, up 169.85 points or 0.7%. The BSE Sensex closed at 77502.12, up 579.48 points or 0.8%. The Nifty 50 index managed to close above its psychologically important mark of 24000 points for the second straight session but continued to face resistance around 24200 points, the higher end of its recent consolidation range. The index has been moving in a broad range of 23800–24200 points for more than two weeks now and a breakout on either side of the range was seen setting the next directional trend for the index. 

Thursday, the September futures contract of Brent Crude declined over nearly 2% intraday to $70.38 per barrel, the lowest since the beginning of the four-month-long West Asia war. Qatari and Pakistani mediators concluded separate meetings with US and Iranian negotiators in Doha Wednesday, with "positive progress" made on issues related to the memorandum of understanding, a Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a post on X. Negotiators from both the sides discussed maritime traffic in the ‌Strait of Hormuz and unfreezing Iran's funds, Reuters reported, citing sources. 

Further, supply of oil through the Strait of Hormuz was said to have reached more than 10 million barrels per day, Bloomberg reported, citing a US official. Adding to supply, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries along with other oil-producing countries will likely agree to a further hike in their output targets from August when they meet on Sunday, Reuters reported, citing sources. The target will increase by about 188,000 barrels per day for August, the same as for June and July. Earlier in the day, brokerage UBS trimmed its 2026 oil price forecast to $84 per barrel, down $9 per barrel from earlier. It also lowered its 2027 oil price forecast to $75 a barrel from $85 a barrel, The Wall Street Journal reported. "Lower geopolitical risk and quick rebound in flows have led to a steeper price decline than we had expected," UBS said.

Investor sentiment was further boosted by optimism around the India–Japan Summit, with expectations of deals on trade, defence, semiconductors, artificial intelligence cooperation, proposed rupee-yen settlement framework and deepening bilateral capital flows, Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, said in a note. Further, dovish remarks from the US Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, reinforcing expectations of moderating inflation and a supportive global rate environment, also supported the positive sentiment, Nair said.  

In the broader market, small-cap indices rose 1.0–1.3%, outperforming both their mid-cap and benchmark peers. On other hand, Nifty mid-cap indices rose 0.5% each, underperforming both small-cap and benchmark indices. Most sectoral indices ended higher except for Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Energy, and Nifty Bank, which were largely flat to down 0.4%. 

Most information technology stocks rebounded sharply, with the Nifty IT index rising nearly 5% to 26965.05 points after it fell to its lowest level in over five years in the previous session. The sectoral index rose after falling for four straight sessions, in which it lost 6.5%. Easing geopolitical tensions and comfort on valuations also supported sentiment around these stocks, according to analysts covering the sector. Gains in the sector were led by sector bellwether Infosys and mid-cap players Persistent Systems, Mphasis, and Coforge, up 5–6%. 

Barring a few, most automobile stocks rose Thursday, on strong sales in June, with healthy demand seen across passenger vehicles, two-wheelers, commercial vehicles and tractors. The Nifty Auto index gained over 1% and was among the top gaining sectoral indices. Select banking stocks also rose Thursday after they reported strong growth in advances for the June quarter. 

Shares of storage battery manufacturing company Exide Industries rose more than 7% and were the top gainers in Nifty 200 index. The stock rose ahead of the record date to determine the beneficiaries of its final dividend of INR 2 per share. As per the T+1 settlement cycle, investors buying the shares on Thursday will be the beneficiaries of the final dividend on the record date, which is Friday. 

Shares of Bank of Baroda declined 4% and were the worst hit stock in both the Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 indices. The stock fell after the lender announced an out-of-court settlement with the joint administrators of NMC Health PLC, NMC Healthcare Ltd. and NMC Holding Ltd. The bank's Abu Dhabi branch paid $600 million or around INR 57 billion to settle the long-running litigation. 

Shares of CSM Technologies listed at the issue price of INR 113 on both the National Stock Exchange and BSE. Soon after listing, shares of the information technology solutions company hit a 5% lower circuit at 107.35. The initial public offer of the company, which ended Monday, were subscribed 1.36 times, with the company receiving bids for 15.13 million shares against 11.13 million on offer.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 35 rose, 15 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 23 rose, 7 fell 

* On the NSE, 2,226 stocks rose, 1,145 fell, and 81 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,536 stocks rose, 1,740 fell, and 182 were unchanged
* Nifty IT: up 4.6%; Nifty Realty: up 1.5%; Nifty PSU Bank: down 0.4%

BSE                                             NSE

Sensex: 77502.12, up 579.48 points, or 0.8%   Nifty 50: 24175.70, up 169.85 points, or 0.7%

End

US$1 = INR 95.3925

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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