Post Session: Quick Review

Prolonging their southward moment for third straight session, Indian equity benchmarks ended flat with minor losses, amid Fed caution and lingering tariff concerns. Indices made gap-down opening, as tariff worries persisted, and the US Fed's minutes showed policymakers are more inclined to keep interest rates steady amid stubborn inflation. In afternoon session, markets came off from day’s low but failed to enter green terrain, as traders took note of report that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest monthly bulletin-February 2025 stated that the global economy continues to grow at a steady but moderate pace, with divergent outlook across countries amid rapidly evolving political and technological landscapes.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

FIIs selling resumes: Sentiments were dampened with Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,881.30 crore on Wednesday after a day's breather, according to exchange data. 

High-frequency indicators show in economic growth: Traders took a note of RBI Bulletin stated that high frequency indicators, like vehicles sales, air traffic, steel consumption and GST E-way bills, point towards a sequential pickup in momentum of economic activity during the second half of the fiscal 2024-25.

US reciprocal tariffs to have minimal impact on India:  Traders overlooked S&P Global Ratings’ statement that the impact of the US reciprocal tariff will be limited on India as the economy is domestically oriented with less reliance on exports. It also said India will clock a 6.7-6.8 per cent GDP growth over the next two years.

Global front: Most of the European markets were trading in green, as investors track quarterly earnings updates and continue to follow geopolitical news. Asian markets ended in red, following another batch of data highlighting ongoing weakness in China’s economy. China’s consumer inflation eased while producer prices stayed stubbornly in deflation in May, bolstering the case for fiscal stimulus as the world's second-largest economy shrugs off monetary easing. 

The BSE Sensex ended at 75735.96, down by 203.22 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 75463.01 and 75794.15. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.18%, while Small cap index up by 1.32%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.19%, Utilities up by 2.17%, Metal up by 2.02%, PSU up by 1.81% and Oil & Gas up by 1.66%, while Bankex down by 0.50% and FMCG down by 0.04% were the few losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.38%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 2.79%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.51%, Tata Steel up by 1.66% and Indusind Bank up by 1.25%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.38%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.81%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.77%, HCL Technologies down by 1.24% and ITC down by 1.11% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Moody's Ratings in its latest report has said that India's power sector - the biggest carbon emitter - will need massive $700 billion investment over the next 10 years to help the country achieve its 2070 net-zero pledge. Stating that the power sector accounts for around 37 per cent of carbon emissions in the country, it said the investments required by the power sector during fiscal 2026-51 to be of the order of 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent of GDP (around 2 per cent for the next 10 years), which is manageable for India. 

According to the report, the sector, which currently is highly dependent on coal-fired generation, has to make significant decarbonization investments for the country to meet its emission cut goals. It said ‘our expectation of strong economic growth over the next 10 years implies an expansion of India's coal-based power generation capacity in that period, hindering carbon transition.’

Moody's pegged power sector's annual investment requirement between Rs 4.5 lakh crore to Rs 6.4 lakh crore ($53 billion to $76 billion) of investment until fiscal 2034-35 (fiscal year ending March 2035), and around Rs 6 lakh crore to Rs 9 lakh crore annually over fiscal 2026-51. It said ‘we estimate India's power sector investments would be in the range of Rs 4.5 lakh crore to Rs 6.4 lakh crore ($53 billion to $76 billion) until fiscal 2034-35 (total investment of around $700 billion over the next 10 years), and Rs 6.0 lakh crore to Rs 9.5 lakh crore annually over fiscal 2025-51’.

The CNX Nifty ended at 22913.15, down by 19.75 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 22812.75 and 22923.85. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 4.13%, NTPC up by 3.29%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.98%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.70% and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 2.66%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.32%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.94%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.66%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.60% and HCL Technologies down by 1.45% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 58.24 points or 0.72% to 8,168.78 and Germany’s DAX gained 133.17 points or 0.59% to 22,566.80, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 21.82 points or 0.25% to 8,690.71.

Asian markets settled down on Thursday after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting revealed that the US central bank is in no rush to cut interest rates as inflation risks remain in focus, while US President Donald Trump's harsh criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also heightened tensions in the ongoing conflict. Japanese shares declined as the yen strengthened to around a two-month high against the US dollar amid rising speculation that the Bank of Japan could raise its benchmark interest rate at its next policy meeting. Moreover, Seoul shares fell on profit booking following tariff pressures and budget cuts from the Donald Trump administration.