Indian equities in Thursday's session opened higher tracking mixed Asian markets. At the open, the Nifty50 index traded higher by 481. points at 25,501.5 points, while the 30-share Sensex gained 183 points or 0.22 per cent at 83,592.65. Meanwhile, the broader markets traded firm, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index up 0.13 per cent.

The Bank Nifty index traded steadily with a positive bias led by gains in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank among others.

From the Nifty50 pack, top gainers included stocks like Tata Steel, Asian Paints, ONGC, M&M and Hindalco, while laggards were Bajaj twins, Kotak Mahindra Bank, SBI Life Insurance and Adani Enterprises.

A positive trigger in the markets can stem from a possible India-US trade deal to be announced in a few days.

Stocks to watch

Nykaa: A Rs 1,200 crore block deal is expected in the counter. Promoter - Banga family is likely to offload a partial stake in the company.

Avenue Supermarts: The D-Mart operator reported standalone revenue from operations at Rs 15,932.12 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2025.

M&M Financial Services: Overall disbursements by the NBFC have increased 1 per cent on-year.

Punjab National Bank: The state run-lender's global deposits rose 12.8 per cent year-on-year in the quarter ended June 30, 2025.

Asian markets

As investors tracked progress on US trade deals ahead of the July 9 deadline, Asian stocks largely traded mixed. At the last count, the key MSCI Asia ex Japan index was up marginally by 0.04 per cent.

Meanwhile, markets across the globe are awaiting the US jobs report, due later in the day, which could offer insights on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path.