Bulls continue to roar on Dalal Street in late trade

Indian equity benchmarks continued their northward journey in late trade with frontline gauges surpassing their crucial 78,300 mark (Sensex) and 23,700 mark (Nifty). Sentiments remained upbeat throughout the day after the U.S. paused its planned tariffs on Canada and Mexico, alleviating concerns over a global trade war. Jubilation also came from hope that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will start its rate reduction cycle by trimming benchmark rates by 25 bps in upcoming meeting. The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting is scheduled for February 5-7. The central bank may also think about lowering the CRR by another 50 basis points or making sizable bond purchases through open market operations to provide long-term liquidity. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after U.S. President Donald Trump delayed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month. However, European counters have made a negative start as new U.S. tariffs of 10 percent on Chinese imports took effect and China announced retaliatory tariffs and export controls, raising fears of a trade war between the world's two largest economies. Back home, amidst the weakening rupee, Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey has said that there is no concern over rupee value and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is managing the volatility of the local currency.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78385.40, up by 1198.66 points or 1.55% after trading in a range of 77402.37 and 78424.26. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.97%, while Small cap index was up by 0.92%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 3.06%, Industrials up by 2.23%, PSU up by 2.01%, Energy up by 1.97% and Oil & Gas up by 1.91%, while FMCG down by 0.45% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 4.55%, Indusind Bank up by 3.19%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 3.15%, Tata Motors up by 2.94% and Ultratech Cement up by 2.82%. On the flip side, Zomato down by 1.51%, Nestle down by 0.71%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.44%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.39% and Power Grid Corporation of India down by 0.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amidst the weakening rupee, Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey has said that there is no concern over rupee value and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is managing the volatility of the local currency. He further noted that the Indian rupee is free-float and no control or fixed rate is applicable on the currency.

Pandey further said that the exchange rate is facing pressure amid unabated foreign fund outflows, underlining that the depreciation of the Indian currency will certainly have an impact on imports, which can turn expensive and stoke inflation, but added that exports will become more attractive. 

The rupee on February 3, 2025 hit record-low of 87.29-a-dollar after Trump Tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China triggered fears of a broad trade war. Meanwhile, the exchange data showed that on February 3, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers for the 23rd session, as they offloaded equities worth Rs 3,958 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23701.15, up by 340.10 points or 1.46% after trading in a range of 23423.15 and 23712.60. There were 41 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 5.11%, Larsen & Toubro up by 4.39%, Indusind Bank up by 3.04%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 2.85% and Bharat Electronics up by 2.77%. On the flip side, Trent down by 6.92%, Britannia Industries down by 2.01%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.43%, Nestle down by 0.96% and Tata Consumer Products down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 572.7 points or 2.75% to 20,789.96, Jakarta Composite gained 79.62 points or 1.13% to 7,109.68, KOSPI increased 27.74 points or 1.12% to 2,481.69, Nikkei 225 surged 278.28 points or 0.72% to 38,798.37 and Taiwan Weighted added 99.25 points or 0.44% to 22,793.96. On the other hand, Straits Times fell 3.95 points or 0.1% to 3,822.52.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 51.63 points or 0.61% to 8,531.93, France’s CAC fell 26.61 points or 0.34% to 7,828.31, Germany’s DAX lost 69.12 points or 0.32% to 21,359.12.