“If this pact materialises, it’s more than just a feel-good moment for the markets and it signals a strategic shift that could strengthen India’s position in global trade and give exports a multi-year runway,” said Sudeep Shah, head – Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities.
Meanwhile, Reliance Industries declined 1.2% on news reports that Indian refiners could cut imports of Russian oil to comply with new US sanctions on Russian producers. This is seen as a step towards removing a major obstacle to the India-US trade deal.
The Nifty IT index jumped 2.2% with all its constituents trading in the positive territory. Infosys led the rally, gaining 3.6%, while HCL Technologies, Mphasis and Tata Consultancy Services advanced over 2% each. The US government’s move to relax some of the tightened H-1B fee rules over the weekend also improved sentiment.
Among textile stocks, Vardhman Textiles, KPR Mill, Welspun Living, Nitin Spinners and Gokaldas Exports surged 2-8%. These stocks, however, gave up a portion of the early gains.
Exporter shares have been under pressure since the Donald Trump administration imposed a 50% tariff on Indian imports to the US. IT stocks have seen the maximum foreign selling across sectors so far in 2025 (till September 30), to the tune of over ₹65,000 crore as concerns over demand in the wake of concerns over a US slowdown contributed to the weak sentiment. Brokers said investors should focus more on the earnings prospects rather than newsflow. “Focus should be more on fundamentals as Trump’s dealing can be uncertain,” said Palak Shah, vice-president – Institutional Sales, PL Capital. “Acceleration in earnings is more beneficial to stock prices than valuations, and we expect more earnings acceleration in some stock-focused sectors.”