The Indian benchmark indices opened flat on Thursday ahead of key retail inflation data, as selling was seen in the auto, IT and PSU Bank sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.28 am, Sensex was trading 69.22 points or 0.08 per cent up at 82,584.36 while the Nifty added 23.65 point or 0.09 per cent at 25,165.05.

Nifty Bank was up 98.65 points or 0.17 per cent at 56,558.40 The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 59,267.75 after dropping 120.40 points or 0.20 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,772.35 after declining 26.40 points or 0.14 per cent.

According to analysts, Nifty ended higher yesterday but slipped off its intra-day peak. Technically, yesterday's candle was a doji with a slightly longer upper shadow immediately following the 'upside-gap two crows' pattern so the onus is on bulls to protect 25,029 in the near-term.

"If bears are able to drag the index below the 24,987-25,029 zone, a test of the 24,800-24,863 area will become a high probability event," said Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research of Axis Securities.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) has successfully raised Rs 2,005.90 crore through Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP).

The capital was mobilised by issuing 12.15 crore equity shares at a price of Rs 165.14 per share, which includes a premium of Rs 155.14 per share over the face value of Rs 10, according to an official statement issued on Wednesday.

The issue price of Rs 165.14 reflects a discount of 5 per cent to the floor price of Rs 173.83 per equity share.

Launched on June 5 this year, the QIP issue closed on June 10, receiving an encouraging response from a diverse set of both domestic and foreign Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) including insurance companies, scheduled commercial banks and Foreign Portfolio Investors.

The Ministry of Railways announced on Wednesday that with effect from July 1, Tatkal tickets booked through IRCTC’s official website and mobile app will be available only to users authenticated with Aadhaar.

Further, Aadhaar-based OTP authentication will become mandatory for Tatkal bookings made online starting July 15.

Tatkal tickets booked at computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters and through authorised agents will require OTP authentication sent to the mobile number provided by the user at the time of booking. This provision will also come into effect from July 15.

India has witnessed an unprecedented scale of infrastructure development over the past decade, driven by the success of a holistic and integrated approach under major national initiatives like PRAGATI, PM GatiShakti, the National Logistics Policy, Bharatmala, Sagarmala, and UDAN, according to an official report released on Wednesday.

The report encapsulates the rapid transformation that has taken place in the country’s transport infrastructure across the highways, railways, maritime and civil aviation sectors of the economy on the back of massive investments made by the Central government in the last 10 years.

Private equity (PE) activity in India is expected to revive in the second half of 2025 as market valuations stabilise and exit opportunities improve, according to a report on Wednesday.

India recorded 179 deals valued at $4.5 billion in May. Excluding IPOs and QIPs, the market saw 175 transactions worth $4.2 billion, reflecting a 17 per cent drop in volumes and a marginal 4 per cent decline in values compared to April, according to the report by Grant Thornton Bharat.

Additionally, the uptick in outbound M&A signals growing corporate confidence in global expansion and strategic diversification.

"May marked a slowdown in overall deal activity due to muted private equity sentiment. The emergence of two unicorns and an uptick in Corporate India's outbound deals indicate a promising deal outlook,” said Shanthi Vijetha, Partner, Growth at Grant Thornton Bharat.

India continues to be in the top 10 global cross-border investment destinations for land and development sites, a report showed on Wednesday.

The country is emerging as a key investment destination within Asia Pacific, driven by strong fundamentals, a maturing real estate market, and growing interest in land and development assets.

Favourable policy measures and continued infrastructure push are further enhancing the investment climate and reinforcing India's appeal to global and regional capital, said the report from Colliers.

India’s infrastructure has seen rapid progress in the last decade, as capital expenditure surged from Rs 2 lakh crore in 2014-15 to Rs 11.21 lakh crore in 2025-26 — a significant six times increase towards the 'Viksit Bharat' goal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday.

Allocation for capital expenditure is at its highest-ever at Rs 11.21 lakh crore during FY2026.

“India’s Infrastructure has seen rapid progress in the last decade under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” FM Sitharaman said in a post on X.

“A leap of more than 860 per cent in budget allocation for road transport to Rs 3+ lakh crore. Four times surge in Metro Rail Network from just 248 KM in 2014 to 1011 KM in 2025,” the minister further informed.

Finance Minister further stated that From Atal Tunnel to Chenab Bridge, India’s engineering feats are transforming its landscape.

The Nifty 50 and Sensex opened almost flat on Wednesday, as buying was seen in sectors like oil and gas and metal, while FMCG and PSU Bank were trading in the red.

Sensex was up 59 points at around 82,451 while Nifty was up 18.55 points at 25,122 in the early trade.

On the National Stock Exchange, 11 sectoral indices advanced, two declined, and two remained flat out of 15 (around 9.25 am). The NSE Nifty Media rose the most.

JSW Steel, Cipla, NTPC and Tech Mahindra were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were Grasim Industries, Shriram Finance, Asian Paints, L&T, Titan Company. BSE Midcap and smallcap index up 0.3 percent each.

According to analysts, market is likely to continue in the consolidation range with a slight upward bias.

The World Bank on Tuesday kept India's economic growth projection at 6.3 per cent for FY 2025-26, as the country remains the fastest growing economy globally.

"In the next two fiscal years, starting in FY2026/27, growth is expected to recover to 6.6 per cent a year, on average, partly supported by robust services activity contributing to a pickup in exports," said the World Bank in its ‘Global Economic Prospects’ report.

In India, growth moderated in FY2024/25 (April 2024 to March 2025), partly reflecting a deceleration in industrial output growth.

Gold ETFs recorded a net inflow of Rs 291.91 crore in May 2025, marking an improvement from the marginal outflow of Rs 5.82 crore in April, according to the AMFI data.

“Flows into the category had remained muted over the past two months, following modest outflows in March as well. The renewed traction in May signals a gradual return of investor interest, likely driven by resilient gold prices and sustained global uncertainties that reinforce gold’s appeal as a strategic hedge,” said Nehal Meshram, Senior Analyst–Manager Research, Morningstar Investment Research India.

The uptick also shows that investors are regaining confidence in gold, as it continues to offer stability amid mixed signals from equity and bond markets.