India’s office market continued its strong growth trajectory in the April-June period (Q2 2025), recording 17.8 million square feet (msf) of gross leasing across the top seven cities -- an 11 per cent increase compared to Q2 2024, a report showed on Thursday.

This also marks a 12 per cent growth compared to the office space demand in the first quarter of the year and underscores the resilience of commercial real estate in India even in the wake of ongoing global uncertainties, said the report by Colliers.

In the first half this year (H1 2025), growth momentum remained strong with 33.7 msf of Grade A space uptake, a 13 per cent annual growth.

Bengaluru led leasing activity during Q2 with a 27 per cent share at 4.8 million square feet, reaffirming its position as India’s top office market. Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai also witnessed strong occupier traction, each recording over 2.5 million square feet of leasing in the quarter, the findings showed.

Starting from a base of $30 billion in 2020, India’s online commerce sector is expected to get to $300 billion by the end of the decade in 2030, contributing to a $1 trillion digital opportunity in the country, according to a report released on Thursday.

This demonstrates it is no longer a niche phenomenon catering to a small segment but has firmly established itself as a dominant force within the Indian retail landscape for a significant and growing share of the population, said Bessemer Venture Partners in its report.

“India presents a $1 trillion dollar digital opportunity. The emergence of multiple consumer marketplaces, platforms and new-age brands in the past decade are a testament to the growing aspirations of an emergent India. This makes us exceptionally optimistic about the potential for many more consumer plays to emerge in the coming years,” explained Anant Vidur Puri, Partner.

The domestic benchmark indices opened higher on Thursday amid mixed global cues, as buying was seen in the metal, auto and financial service sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.26 am, Sensex was trading 239.27 points or 0.29 per cent up at 82,994.78 while the Nifty added 84.20 points or 0.33 per cent at 25,328.95

According to analysts, with ceasefire between Israel and Iran, globally markets are in a risk-on mode. But since the reciprocal tariff issue remains to be addressed, sustained rally would be difficult.

"The market focus in the near-term will be on what transpires around July 9th when the 90-day pause of the reciprocal tariff ends. Which countries will succeed in negotiating bilateral trade deals with the US will be keenly watched," said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

Positive news on a potential India-US deal will be a shot in the arm for the market, he added.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on BSE Ltd for violation of norms related to dissemination of price-sensitive information by corporates, weak supervision of broker trades, and laxity in taking action.

The punitive action follows an inspection of the stock exchange carried out between February 2021 and September 2022, after which a show cause notice was issued.

India on Wednesday appreciated Vietnam's expression of solidarity and support to India in the fight against terrorism as both sides unequivocally condemned terrorism in all forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, during the 13th Political Consultation and the 10th Strategic Dialogue held in New Delhi.

The dialogue was co-chaired by P. Kumaran, Secretary (East) at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Nguyen Manh Cuong, Deputy Foreign Minister of Vietnam.

Public sector lender Union Bank of India on Wednesday announced plans to raise up to Rs 6,000 crore through a mix of equity and debt instruments.

The decision was approved by the bank’s board on Wednesday and was announced after market hours.

Out of the total fundraise, the bank will raise up to Rs 3,000 crore through equity instruments.

Gross inward foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India surged to $8.8 billion in April this year, higher than $5.9 billion in March and $7.2 billion in April 2024, according to the RBI's monthly bulletin released on Wednesday.

Manufacturing and business services accounted for nearly half of the gross FDI inflows in this month.

India ranked 16th globally in FDI inflows and recorded $114 billion in greenfield investment in digital economy sectors over the last five years (2020-2024), the highest among all countries in the Global South, the bulletin states.

Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) recorded net inflows of $1.7 billion in May 2025, driven by the equity segment. Equities gained for the third consecutive month as the India-Pakistan ceasefire, the US-China trade truce, and better-than-expected corporate earnings results in Q4:2024-25 lifted investor sentiment and spurred portfolio rebalancing towards Indian assets.

Various high-frequency indicators for May 2025 point towards resilient economic activity in India across the industrial and services sectors amid the elevated global uncertainty, according to the RBI’s monthly economic bulletin released on Wednesday.

Agriculture showed a broad-based increase in production across most major crops during 2024-25. The domestic prices situation remains benign with headline inflation staying below the target for the fourth consecutive month in May, the report states.

It also highlights that financial conditions remained conducive to facilitate an efficient transmission of rate cuts to the credit market.

The report states that the global economy is in a state of flux, reeling from the twin shocks of trade policy uncertainties and a spike in geo-political tensions.

However, on the domestic front, the provisional estimates released in May have reaffirmed India’s growth to be 6.5 per cent in 2024-25, with a significant sequential pickup in Q4. Various high-frequency indicators for May point to signs of resilient economic activity across the industrial and services sector.

Economic activity has displayed a mixed trend in the first two months this fiscal, with nine non-agri indicators showing an improvement over Q4 FY25, as the output of summer crops is estimated to grow at a healthy pace, a report showed on Wednesday.

The set of indicators showing an improvement during April-May includes the government’s capital expenditure, passenger vehicle (PV) production, GST e-way bills, the government's non-interest, non-subsidy revenue expenditure, petrol and diesel consumption, non-oil exports, vehicle registrations, and Coal India Ltd’s (CIL) output.

These trends augur well for both industrial and services GVA growth in the ongoing quarter.

While rains have picked up after a hiatus in early-June, the spatial and temporal distribution remains crucial to support favourable kharif sowing and sustain rural demand, according to an ICRA report.

Indian stock markets extended their gains for the second straight day on Wednesday, supported by strong buying in media and technology shares.

Investors were relieved after crude oil prices dropped and tensions between Iran and Israel eased following a ceasefire.

The Sensex closed 700.4 points higher at 82,755.51, gaining 0.85 per cent. The Nifty also rose by 200.40 points to settle at 25,244.75, up 0.8 per cent.

Titan Company, M&M, Infosys, Power Grid, TCS and Bharti Airtel emerged as the top gainers on the Sensex, with gains of up to 3.6 per cent.

On the other hand, BEL, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank were the major laggards, falling as much as 3 per cent.