Post Session: Quick Review

Local equity benchmarks ended Tuesday’s trading session with marginal losses amid volatility and persistent foreign selling pressured investor sentiment. After making a cautious start, soon markets slipped into deep red as sentiments remained subdued amid prevailing uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff plans. Besides, a private report noted that President Donald Trump’s more broad definition of reciprocal tariffs unveiled last week likely exposes most Asian economies to US levies. In final hours of trade, indices recovered from day’s low but failed to enter green terrain.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

India's exports decline in January: Some pessimism came as India’s exports declined for the third month in a row in January by 2.38% to $37.32 billion due to volatility in petroleum prices and global uncertainties.

Sustained foreign fund outflows: Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,937.83 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. 

Govt, RBI working together to control inflation: Traders overlooked Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are working in ‘sync’ to control inflation and in turn boost growth. 

Global front: European markets were trading in red, after U.K. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter, while France's consumer price inflation climbed to a five-month high of 1.7 percent in January from 1.3 percent in December amid higher costs for energy and services. Most of the Asian markets ended in green, as investor sentiments boosted with the easing geopolitical tensions after US President Trump's decision to engage Russia in talks about Ukraine.

The BSE Sensex ended at 75967.39, down by 29.47 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 75531.01 and 76091.69. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.19%, while Small cap index down by 1.71%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.03%, Oil & Gas up by 0.70%, Power up by 0.59%, IT up by 0.55% and Energy up by 0.38%, while Industrials down by 1.51%, Consumer Durables down by 1.19%, Telecom down by 1.06%, Capital Goods down by 0.91% and FMCG down by 0.80% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.09%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.01%, Zomato up by 1.83%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.98% and HCL Technologies up by 0.85%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.38%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.87%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.60%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.27% and ITC down by 0.91% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in a major step, the government has launched the Mutual Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs (MCGS MSME) for facilitating loans up to Rs 100 crore to MSMEs for purchase of machinery or equipment without collateral, which was announced in the Union Budget 2024-25.

The scheme will provide 60% guarantee coverage by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) to Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) for credit facility up to Rs 100 crore sanctioned to eligible MSMEs under MCGS-MSME for purchase of equipment / machinery.

The MCGS MSME is expected to facilitate the availability of credit for purchase of Plant and Machinery / Equipment by MSMEs and give a major boost to manufacturing and thereby to Make in India. The scheme will facilitate collateral free loans by banks and financial institutions to MSMEs who are in need of debt capital for their expansion and growth.

The CNX Nifty ended at 22945.30, down by 14.20 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 22801.50 and 22992.50. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 2.93%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.41%, Wipro up by 2.24%, Power Grid up by 1.42% and ONGC up by 1.26%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.30%, Trent down by 1.94%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.58%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.57% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.48% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; Germany’s DAX lost 50.9 points or 0.22% to 22,747.19, France’s CAC fell 9.73 points or 0.12% to 8,179.40 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 1.02 points or 0.01% to 8,766.99.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday, with risk appetite in the market buoyed by the rally in technological sector amidst growing optimism over AI followed by the news on a meeting between China's President Xi Jinping and business leaders. Japan's Nikkei finished green after the local currency yen softened bolstering foreign investments and on upbeat economic data for the quarter 4. Japan's economy grew by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter, up from 0.4% growth in the previous quarter and exceeding expectations of 0.3%. On an annualized basis, Japan's GDP expanded by 2.8% in Q4, in line with forecasts and accelerating from a 1.7% increase in Q3.