Key gauges continue to trade sluggish in late deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade sluggish as investors remained cautious ahead of key corporate earnings and the Reserve Bank of India's crucial rate decision on February 7. All eyes are now on RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra’s first monetary policy review, where traders are hoping a rate cut of 25 basis point. The decision could set the tone for the market’s next big move. Traders are also keeping an eye on third-quarter earnings results from major companies, including Bharti Airtel, ITC, Britannia Industries, Hero Motocorp etc. Sentiments also remain dampened after Rupee plunged 15 paise to its record low level of 87.58 against US dollar. Rupee is trading with a negative bias over the global trade war as market participants mulled the impact of tariffs being imposed by the United States and China.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77,897.24, down by 374.04 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 78,551.66 and 77,843.99. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index down by 1.09%, while Small cap index was down by 0.35%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables down by 2.17%, Realty down by 2.14%, Telecom down by 1.77%, Power down by 1.50% and Consumer Disc down by 1.43%, while there were no gainers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports up by 1.55%, Infosys up by 0.63%, Axis Bank up by 0.35%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.30% and Indusind Bank up by 0.27%. On the flip side, Titan down by 2.59%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.43%, NTPC down by 2.39%, ITC down by 1.93% and Power Grid Corporation of India down by 1.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has stated that automobile retail sales in India rose 7 per cent year-on-year in January 2025 at 22,91,621 units, driven by robust demand across segments. Overall retail sales stood at 21,49,117 units in January 2024.

It said passenger vehicle retail sales jumped 16 per cent year-on-year to 4,65,920 units in January 2025. Two-wheeler retails stood at 15,25,862 units in January 2025, an increase of 4 per cent, as compared with 14,65,039 units in same month last year.

It further said commercial vehicle sales rose 8 per cent year-on-year in January 2025 to 99,425 units. Tractor sales rose 5 per cent year-on-year to 93,381 units in January 2025, while three-wheeler retail sales rose 7 per cent to 1,07,033 units in January 2025.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23574.00, down by 122.30 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 23562.25 and 23773.55. There were 20 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 2.23%, Adani Ports up by 1.49%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.47%, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories up by 0.84% and BPCL up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Trent down by 6.21%, Bharat Electronics down by 2.98%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.57%, Titan Co down by 2.56% and NTPC down by 2.24% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 294.53 points or 1.41% to 20,891.62, KOSPI increased 27.48 points or 1.08% to 2,536.75, Nikkei 225 surged 235.05 points or 0.6% to 39,066.53, Taiwan Weighted added 155.02 points or 0.66% to 23,316.60, Straits Times rose 13.98 points or 0.37% to 3,829.35 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 41.17 points or 1.26% to 3,270.66. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite plunged 148.69 points or 2.16% to 6,875.54.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 94.27 points or 1.09% to 8,717.56, France’s CAC rose 53.25 points or 0.67% to 7,944.93, Germany’s DAX gained 165.86 points or 0.77% to 21,751.79.