U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a trade agreement that lowers Vietnam's tariff rate from 46% to 20%, raising expectations that India's effective tariff rate might stabilize between 15% and 18%.

“Markets are awaiting a decisive trigger that could propel the Nifty towards its record high of 26,277.35. All eyes are now on the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for June, set to be released on Thursday. Weaker-than-expected figures could reignite hopes for a rate cut by the Federal Reserve, while stronger data may reduce those chances,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd.

Among Sensex constituents, the top performers included Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Eternal, and Tata Motors. On the other hand, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Trent, and Bajaj Finserv were among the top losers.

Across Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, and China’s Shanghai Composite Index were trading higher, whereas Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was in the red.

U.S. markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.

“Nifty is expected to remain within the 25,200–25,800 range until a key development breaks the consolidation. A potential India-U.S. trade agreement in the coming days could serve as that positive trigger,” noted V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Meanwhile, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.77% to $68.58 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹1,561.62 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.

In the prior trading session, the BSE Sensex declined by 287.60 points (0.34%) to close at 83,409.69, while the Nifty dropped 88.40 points (0.35%) to settle at 25,453.40.