Domestic indices trim some losses in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices trimmed some of their losses but continued to trade in red in late morning deals on account of selling by funds and retail investors. Meanwhile, broader indices were also trading in red with BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index falling in the range of 0.70-0.85%. Traders were cautious as U.S. Treasury yields rose after testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell raised some doubt about the path toward lower rates. Further, rising crude oil prices also weighed on the domestic sentiments.  Crude oil prices rose amid concerns over Russian and Iranian oil supply and sanctions threats despite worries that escalating trade tariffs could dampen global economic growth. All the sectoral indices were trading in red led by Realty, Power, Energy, Oil & Gas and Utilities. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors digested U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff impact on regional economies. Back home, in the stock specific development, Indo Count Industries surged after the company reported a healthy set of numbers for December 2024 (Q3FY25) quarter.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75794.67, down by 498.93 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 75388.39 and 76409.27. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.72%, while Small cap index down by 0.83%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 1.53%, Power down by 1.07%, Energy down by 1.04%, Oil & Gas down by 1.02% and Utilities down by 0.77%, while there were no gainers.  

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 0.74%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.70%, Tata Steel up by 0.69%, Tata Motors up by 0.66% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.45%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.39%, ITC down by 2.10%, Reliance Industries down by 2.07%, Power Grid down by 1.74% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government is using almost the entire borrowing in 2025-26 towards financing capital expenditure. She said the effective capital expenditure in FY26 is Rs 15.48 lakh crore, which is 4.3 per cent of GDP. The fiscal deficit target is 4.4 per cent of the GDP for next fiscal. 

The minister said it indicates that the government is using almost the entire borrowed resources for financing effective capital expenditure. So the borrowings are not going for revenue expenditure or committed expenditure, or any of those kinds. It's going only for creating capital assets. So, in effect, the government intends to use about 99 per cent of borrowed sources to finance effective capital expenditure in the upcoming year.  

Talking on general Budget 2025-26, Sitharaman said the Budget has come in a time of immense uncertainties, changes in the global macro-economic environment, stagnating global growth and sticky inflation. She said the world's scenario in the last 10 years turned 180 degrees, and making Budget is more challenging now than ever before. She noted that Budget balances national development necessities with fiscal priorities. She said inflation trend, particularly food, appears to be moderating. Inflation management receives the highest priority of this government. Overall, retail inflation is within the notified tolerance band of 2-6 per cent.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22938.55, down by 133.25 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 22798.35 and 23097.95. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life up by 3.01%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.21%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.88%, Tata Consumer up by 1.44% and Trent up by 0.96%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.39%, Bharat Electronics down by 2.28%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.19%, ITC down by 2.10% and Reliance Industries down by 2.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 325 points or 1.53% to 21,619.86, Jakarta Composite gained 42.82 points or 0.65% to 6,574.81, Shanghai Composite strengthened 0.96 points or 0.03% to 3,319.02, KOSPI increased 7.62 points or 0.3% to 2,546.67 and Nikkei 225 surged 104.46 points or 0.27% to 38,905.63. However, Straits Times fell 2.08 points or 0.05% to 3,858.68 and Taiwan Weighted lost 43.65 points or 0.19% to 23,340.40.