Indian Shares Extend Gains On EU Trade Deal

(RTTNews) - Indian shares rose notably on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session after the announcement of a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU).

The historic trade deal boosted hopes of an economic boost for India's export sectors, particularly in labor-intensive sectors such as textiles, apparel, leather, footwear, marine products, gems and jewelry, handicrafts, engineering goods, and automobiles.

A weaker dollar in international markets also offered some support after U.S. President Donald Trump said the value of the dollar was "great" and that he is satisfied with fall of the dollar, which is currently at its lowest level since the beginning of 2022. Traders took his comments as a signal to intensify dollar selling.

The benchmark BSE Sensex jumped 487.20 points, or 0.60 percent, to 82,344.68 while the broader NSE Nifty index closed up 167.35 points, or 0.66 percent, at 25,342.75. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes surged 1.7 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

The market breadth was strong on the BSE, with 2,922 shares rising while 1,311 shares fell and 140 shares closed unchanged.

Among the top gainers, BEL soared 8.9 percent after its Q3 earnings beat expectations, led by a strong order book.

ONGC rallied 8.3 percent and Oil India shares climbed more than 9 percent after oil prices jumped nearly 3 percent on Tuesday to hit four-month highs amid U.S. President Trump's renewed threat against Iran.

Eternal surged 5.1 percent after recent declines, driven largely by investor concerns around the timing of a leadership change during a high-growth phase.

ABB India gained 7.2 percent and Titagarh Rail added 4.5 percent after the companies signed a pact for metro projects.