Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets witnessed bloodbath in Tuesday’s trading session amid profit booking. After making positive start, indices failed to held their gains and entered into red following losses in IT sector’s stocks. In late afternoon session, markets touched their day’s low levels, as traders avoided to take risk ahead of Union Budget, which will be the second full budget of Modi 3.0, is scheduled to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2025. 

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

Donald Trump's trade policies: Donald Trump has returned to the White House for his second term as US President. Trump declared tariffs against Canada and Mexico in the near future but stopped short of declaring any tariffs against China.

Foreign fund outflows: Foreign fund outflows dented domestic sentiments. On January 20, FIIs/FPIs net sold India stocks worth Rs 4,336.54 crore. Thus far in January, FPIs have sold stocks worth Rs 48,023 crore.

Indian economy to grow by 7% in FY25: Investors took note of the report that the Moody's Ratings has projected the Indian economy to grow by 7% in the current fiscal (FY25) and said robust economic expansion will drive growth in insurance premiums. 

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in green as investors closely monitored developments at the World Economic Forum taking place this week in Davos, Switzerland. Asian markets ended mostly in green, after the Malaysian foreign trade surplus increased sharply in December from a year ago as exports grew faster than imports. The data from the statistical office showed that the trade surplus rose to MYR 19.2 billion in December from MYR 11.8 billion in the same month last year. The surplus also rose from MYR 15.0 billion in November.

The BSE Sensex ended at 75,838.36, down by 1235.08 points or 1.60% after trading in a range of 75,641.87 and 77,337.36. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 2.00%, while Small cap index was down by 1.94%. (Provisional)

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 4.22%, Consumer Durables down by 3.99%, Consumer Disc down by 2.90%, Power down by 2.63% and Telecom was down by 2.52%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 0.76%, HCL Tech up by 0.49%, ITC up by 0.10% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.01%. On the flip side, Zomato down by 10.56%, NTPC down by 3.36%, Adani Ports down by 3.32%, ICICI Bank down by 2.80% and SBI down by 2.45% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in a significant step in advancing India-Belgium trade relations, the Commerce and Industry Minister of India, Piyush Goyal, has held bilateral talks with the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs, and Foreign Trade, Bernard Quintin, in Brussels. This meeting reinforced the longstanding relationship between India and Belgium, built on shared values of democracy, rule of law and independent judiciary. The two leaders discussed ways to expand economic cooperation, and explored new avenues to advance this partnership.

During the discussions, both leaders acknowledged Belgium’s significant reliance on foreign trade and India’s dynamic, growing economy as key factors for leveraging mutual opportunities. Recognizing the potential of trade as a cornerstone of their partnership, they emphasized the importance of diversifying trade relations and deepening economic diplomacy to achieve sustainable growth. The leaders also discussed the progress of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations and emphasized the importance of prioritizing trade issues to streamline negotiations and strengthen economic ties.

Emerging sectors such as renewable energy, life sciences, infrastructure, digital technologies, and food products were highlighted as key areas of collaboration. Belgium recognized the importance of engaging with India as a strategic partner to diversify its trade relationships. Regulatory barriers, particularly in the approval processes for pharmaceuticals and agri-products, were also discussed, with both sides agreeing to tackle these challenges through continuous dialogue.

The CNX Nifty ended at 23,024.65, down by 320.10 points or 1.37% after trading in a range of 22,976.85 and 23,426.30. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 2.04%, Tata Consumer up by 1.23%, BPCL up by 1.05%, JSW Steel up by 0.83% and Shriram Finance up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Trent down by 5.80%, Adani Ports down by 3.70%, NTPC down by 3.50%, ICICI Bank down by 2.98% and SBI down by 2.59% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 10.13 points or 0.12% to 8,530.67 and France’s CAC was up by 6.07 points or 0.08% to 7,739.57. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX was down by 27.8 points or 0.13% to 20,962.51.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday after President Donald Trump held off from imposing sweeping trade tariffs in his first day in office and announced a national energy emergency in order to end the inflation crisis in the United States. Although, he announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on imports from the two major US trading partners Canada and Mexico starting from February 1 and said tariffs on China could hinge on a deal over TikTok's ownership. Hong Kong shares rose, with property developers in focus after reports that officials are taking steps to stabilize operations at China Vanke Co after liquidity stress and uncertainty over its CEO's whereabouts caused turmoil in the firm's bonds and shares last week. Japanese shares gained with expectations the Bank of Japan will raise its key short-term interest rate at the end of a two-day policy meeting later this week.