Mumbai, June 27: The Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Friday amid a ‘great’ India-US trade deal possibility, as buying was seen in the PSU bank and IT sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.15 am, Sensex was trading 150.40 points or 0.18 per cent up at 83,906.27 while the Nifty added 54.50 points or 0.21 per cent at 25,603.

US President Donald Trump has hinted at a “very big” trade deal with India, weeks after a team of negotiators from the two countries held four-day closed-door talks on the agreement. Addressing the ‘Big Beautiful Event’ at the White House, Trump said he has a “great deal” with India.

According to analysts, reports that the July 9th US tariff deadline is likely to be extended are also positive for the market sentiment.

“High inflation, aggressive monetary tightening by the central banks, geopolitical events including some wars and conflicts, and unprecedented tariff threats, did pose some threats to the rally, but the bull market climbed all these walls of worries. It appears that the rally is unlikely to be impacted by the approaching July 9th tariff deadline,” said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd.

Nifty Bank was down 80.25 points or 0.14 per cent at 57,126.45 in early trade. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 59,505.65 after adding 278.25 points or 0.47 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,920.30 after climbing 114.70 points or 0.61 per cent.

“Technically, the inside day pattern from two days ago was proof that a trending move was coming, and we got one yesterday with more than 5 stocks advancing for every stock that fell in the Nifty,” said Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities.

The thrust may have more to go though, with the 25,700-25,800 zone the next immediate upside hurdle, and while tactical support at 25,000 is holding, bulls will be optimistic about getting there and beyond sooner than later, he added.

Meanwhile, in the Sensex pack, L&T, Tata Steel, SBI, Tata Motors, NTPC and HCL Tech were the top gainers. While, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finance were the top losers.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers on June 26, purchasing equities worth Rs 12,594.38 crore. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained sellers, selling equities worth Rs 195.23 crore.

In the Asian markets, China, Bangkok, Seoul and Hong Kong were trading in red, whereas only Japan was trading in green.

In the last trading session, Dow Jones in the US closed at 43,386.84, up 404.41 points, or 0.94 per cent. The S&P 500 ended with a gain of 48.86 points, or 0.80 per cent at 6,141.02 and the Nasdaq closed at 20,167.91, up 194.36 points, or 0.97 per cent.

Mumbai, June 26: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday announced to organise a morcha from Girgaum to Azad Maidan in Mumbai on July 6 to protest against the “imposition” of Hindi as the third language in Marathi and English schools.

He alleged that it was a conspiracy to destroy the Marathi language, which has recently been awarded Classical Status, saying that the party will not allow the “imposition” of the Hindi language in the state.

Raj Thackeray was speaking to the reporters after meeting School Education Minister Dadaji Bhuse.

“There will be no compulsion in the language, be it Hindi or any other. I am appealing to all the parties that on July 6, we have decided to take out a morcha from Girgaum. There will be no flags in this morcha. It will be a morcha of Marathi people; we are inviting everyone. I have chosen Sunday so that everyone can come,” said Raj Thackeray.

He added that all literary figures, Marathi lovers, film personalities and all political parties should participate in the morcha.

“We should come together for Maharashtra without any arguments,” he said.

Speaking about his meeting with Minister Bhuse, Raj Thackeray said that there is a shortage of teachers for the Hindi language. But the government is saying that it will recruit 10,000 teachers.

“Do you have the money to pay the salaries? There are many big issues before the state, so why is it coming to the language? Is there an attempt to hide something big?” he asked.

“Will you get work in films by learning Hindi? Maharashtra is big because of the education system. Then why this argument in favour of Hindi to make Maharashtra great,” Raj Thackeray said.

“If the government is going to promote arts and sports to increase the merits of students instead of a language, then we have no objection,” he said.

Raj Thackeray said that his party does not accept the government’s stand on Hindi at all.

“We will remain opposed to the imposition of Hindi,” he said.

New Delhi, June 26: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, on Thursday dismissed media reports suggesting that two-wheelers will be required to pay tolls on National Highways from July 15.

He called the reports misleading and clarified that no such proposal is under consideration.

Taking to social media platform X, the Union Minister said: “Some media houses are spreading misleading news about toll tax being levied on two-wheelers. No such decision has been proposed.”

“Two-wheelers will continue to be exempt from tolls. Spreading such baseless news without verifying the facts is not responsible journalism. I strongly condemn it,” the Union Minister stated.

The clarification comes after a report claimed that toll payment would soon be made mandatory for two-wheelers at all national highway toll plazas, and that riders would need to equip their vehicles with FASTag.

The report also claimed that violators could face penalties of up to Rs 2,000. This comes just days after Gadkari announced a new annual FASTag pass worth Rs 3,000 for private four-wheelers, aimed at simplifying toll payments and reducing congestion.

Set to launch on August 15, the pass will be valid for one year or 200 trips — whichever comes first — and can be activated via the Rajmarg Yatra app or official websites of the NHAI and the MoRTH.

The government has significantly expanded its highway infrastructure in the last decade, with the total length of national highways increasing from 91,287 km in 2014 to 1,46,204 km in 2024 — a rise of over 60 per cent.

The pace of highway construction has also tripled from 11.6 km/day in 2014 to 34 km/day in 2024.

As of now, 1,366 highway projects covering 32,366 km are under construction across the country, many of which are expected to be completed in phases by FY 2028.

With a 570 per cent increase in the road transport and highways budget over the last decade, the Centre continues to prioritise infrastructure development — but for now, two-wheeler riders can rest assured that tolls are not on the horizon.