Indian Financial Markets: Latest news

Indian benchmark indices closed lower ahead of the weekend, with the BSE Sensex dropping 455.59 points (-0.58%) to 78,499.17 and the Nifty 50 slipping 65.35 points (-0.27%) to 24,570.65, pressured by losses in financial and auto heavyweights.

Market Performance Summary

Sensex: Closed at 78,499.17, down 0.58% (-455.59 pts).

Nifty 50: Closed at 24,570.65, down 0.27% (-65.35 pts).

Nifty Bank: Settled at 57,746.45, down 0.55% (-317.20 pts).

Nifty IT: Bucked the trend to gain 1.42% (+441.50 pts) to 31,547.70. [1]

Top Gainers & Losers

Top Gainers: Siemens Energy India (+12.19%), Tata Technologies (+8.89%), and Motherson (+8.71%) led the upside.

Top Losers: Bajaj Finance (-5.84%), Navin Fluorine (-4.38%), and Bajaj Finserv (-3.70%) saw sharp corrections.

Corporate & Sector Highlights

Q1 Earnings Impact: Recent quarterly results drove stock movements, including Delhivery posting a 65% profit drop and Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail (ABFRL) reporting a net loss of ₹215 crore.

Mutual Funds: Edelweiss Mutual Fund temporarily suspended SIPs and STPs across seven of its schemes.

Macro & Policy: The Commerce Ministry dismissed reports regarding large-scale US ethanol imports for fuel blending, clarifying that domestic producers meet full requirements.

For real-time quotes, check the National Stock Exchange of India or track live updates on The Economic Times Markets.

There will be specific activity in these stocks--

Food delivery and e-commerce platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato and Zepto could soon come under Maharashtra’s bike-taxi regulatory framework, The Indian Express reported. The state government is proposing rules that would require the “doorstep-delivery” platforms to maintain electric vehicle (EV) fleets and to contribute 2 per cent of each ride's fare to a driver welfare fund.

What the proposed rules say

The amendments proposed by the state transport department define “delivery service providers” as entities that own or operate vehicle fleets for transporting products, parcels and packages.

This could bring platforms such as Swiggy, Blinkit, Zomato and Zepto within the proposed framework.

If approved, the platforms could be required to operate EV-only fleets, enable GPS tracking of vehicles and drivers, provide insurance cover and comply with fares prescribed by the Regional Transport Authority. They would also need to obtain a unique licence identification number.

The proposed rules would also require platforms to contribute 2 per cent of the fare for each ride to a driver welfare fund. The fund is proposed to support pension benefits, accident insurance, loans for purchasing EVs and education assistance for drivers’ children.

Proposal under legal scrutiny

Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik confirmed that the department had proposed the changes. He said vehicles operating on trips of less than 15 km would be covered under the policy, with EV and other compliance requirements applying to the relevant aggregators if the amendments are approved.

The proposal has been sent to the state Law and Judiciary department for scrutiny.

The move follows Sarnaik’s announcement in the state Legislative Assembly last month that bike-taxi drivers would be required to have domicile certificates and government-issued public service vehicle badges. The government has said the changes are aimed at creating employment opportunities for local youth.

Transport department officials said the proposed amendments would also allow the state to regulate delivery and e-commerce platforms that currently operate without coming under the bike-taxi framework.

“While such platforms already do business in the state, they do not fall within the purview of bike taxi norms,” a transport official said, adding that this made it difficult for the state to monitor their operations and hold them accountable in the event of disputes or passenger grievances.