The Indian stock markets closed on a strong note on Thursday, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty surging over 1 per cent each, led by gains in banking and heavyweight stocks.

The benchmark index reflected strong investor confidence, underpinned by the apparent stability of the Middle East ceasefire, which has eased concerns over potential supply chain disruptions.

The Sensex jumped 1,000.36 points, or 1.21 per cent, to settle at 83,755.87. During the session, the index touched an intra-day high of 83,812.09 and a low of 82,816.26.

The Nifty also gained 304.25 points, or 1.21 per cent, to close at 25,549.00. It hit an intra-day high of 25,565.30 and a low of 25,259.90 during the day.

India’s steel industry is rapidly advancing toward the government’s target of achieving 300 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of crude steel capacity by FY2030-31, according to a private sector report released on Thursday.

The report highlights that the growth rate of steel production in India has outpaced both China and the global average. Between 2016 and 2024, India recorded a CAGR of about 5 per cent, compared to 2.76 per cent for China and 1.77 per cent globally.

Notably, while China’s steel production has been declining since 2020, India witnessed an accelerated CAGR of 8 per cent during this period. This divergence underscores India’s rising prominence in the global steel industry, supported by abundant raw materials, cost-effective labour, and enabling government policies, the report states.

A strategic collaboration in areas including clean and renewable energy, climate finance, Digital Public Infrastructure, trade and supply chain resilience as well as healthcare and pharma will drive a mutually beneficial growth trajectory between India and the G7 advanced countries, according to a study released here on Thursday.

The study released by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry also mentioned the importance of maritime and Indo-Pacific security as a strategic factor that further cements the relationship between India and the G7 countries.

The report highlighted that India's merchandise trade with G7 countries has surged by 61 per cent, rising from $154 billion in FY 2020–21 to $248 billion in FY 2024–25, maintaining a steady trade surplus. This reflects India's growing export competitiveness as indicated by the commodity net export price index, bolstering its external sector resilience, the report pointed out.

Aided by strong collections and delivery lined up for next 2-3 years, the real estate companies in India are estimated to clock 22 per cent CAGR in revenue over FY25-FY27 to Rs 861 billion, a report showed on Thursday.

EBITDA is expected to post a 26 per cent CAGR to Rs 252 billion and blended operating margin is estimated to improve by 168bp to 29 per cent over FY25-27E, according to the sector update report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

“With the timely execution of strong project pipeline, companies will achieve robust collections. Collections are expected to clock a 36 per cent CAGR to Rs 1.5 trillion over FY25-27E,” the report mentioned.

India’s production of horticulture crops is estimated to have increased by 3.66 per cent to 367.72 million tonnes (MT) in the 2024-25 crop year (July-June) due to the higher output of fruits and vegetables, according to the second advance estimates released by the Union agriculture ministry.

In 2023-24, the horticulture crops production stood at 3,547.44 lakh tonnes.

The area under the coverage of horticultural crops increased to 292.67 lakh hectares in 2024-25 from 290.86 lakh hectares in the preceding year.

The data shows that the production of fruits is estimated to have risen 1.36 per cent to 1,145.10 lakh tonnes in 2024-25, while the output of vegetables is projected to have increased 6 per cent to 2,196.74 lakh tonnes.

Spice production is estimated at 123.70 lakh tonnes in 2024-25 against 124.84 lakh tonnes in the preceding year.

A total of 275 people -- 272 Indian nationals and three Nepalese -- arrived safely in New Delhi from Mashhad, Iran, on Thursday, as part of the Indian government's ongoing Operation Sindhu.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed the arrival and said this brings the total number of citizens repatriated from Iran to 3,426, amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Emotions ran high as relieved evacuees stepped onto Indian soil.

He further recalled how embassy officials patiently waited and searched for missing passengers before departure.

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.