Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets witnessed selling pressure on Friday, with the Nifty 50 index ending below the 22,800 mark, as investors were cautious due to ongoing selling by FIIs and ahead of monetary policy meeting minutes, which is due later in day. Markets made a negative start, as traders seemed cautious and awaited clarity on US President Donald Trump's trade policies and the outcome of Ukraine peace talks. Trump's harsh criticism of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy heightened tensions in the ongoing conflict. Soon, markets extended their losses and remained lower till end of the day.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

Relentless FIIs selling: Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold India stocks worth Rs 3,311.55 crore on Thursday, February 20, 2025. 

Slowdown in India's economic growth: Traders were concerned as Moody's Analytics said India's growth will slow to 6.4 per cent in 2025, from 6.6 per cent in 2024, as new US tariffs and softening global demand weigh on exports.

India’s private sector sees rapid growth in February: Traders failed to get relief with reports stating that private sector output in India increased at the fastest pace in six months during February, amid a quicker expansion in services activity. The HSBC Flash India Composite Output Index was at 60.6 in February, up from a final reading of 57.7 in January.

Global front: Most of the European markets were trading higher on Friday as Germany's manufacturing sector improved more-than-expected in February, while services sector activity deteriorated slightly. Asian markets ended in green, supported by the positive cues from US markets. Better than expected corporate earnings and economic growth in emerging market kindled the investor sentiments.

The BSE Sensex ended at 75311.06, down by 424.90 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 75112.41 and 75748.72. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.18%, while Small cap index was down by 0.43%. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Metal up by 1.23%, while Auto down by 2.60%, Healthcare down by 1.60%, Consumer Discretionary down by 1.49%, Oil & Gas down by 1.42% and Realty down by 1.33% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.88%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.10%, HCL Technologies up by 0.68%, TCS up by 0.25% and HDFC Bank up by 0.21%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 6.23%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 2.61%, Tata Motors down by 2.51%, Sun Pharma down by 1.84% and Zomato down by 1.58% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that major auto component firms are likely to invest Rs 15,000-20,000 crore in FY25 and another Rs 25,000-30,000 crore in FY26. It said the incremental investments would be made towards new products, product development for committed platforms and development of advanced technology and electric vehicle (EV) components, apart from capex for capacity enhancements and upcoming regulatory changes. 

The rating agency expects the revenue growth of the Indian auto component industry (represented by a sample of 46 auto ancillaries with aggregate annual revenues of over Rs 3 lakh crore in FY24) to ease to 7-9 per cent in the ongoing fiscal (FY25) and 8-10 per cent in the next financial year (FY26), from the highs of 14 per cent in FY24. It noted that demand from domestic Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), which constitutes over half of the industry revenues, is estimated to grow by 7-9 per cent in FY25 and 8-10per cent in FY26. It added that part of the growth would stem from premiumisation of components and higher value addition.

The report said growth in replacement demand is pegged at 5-7 per cent in FY25 and 7-9 per cent in FY26, driven by an increase in vehicle parc, higher average age of vehicles/used car purchases, preventive maintenance and growth in organised spare parts, among other reasons. It said exports, which account for close to 30 per cent of the industry's revenues, are likely to be impacted by subdued vehicle registration growth in the target markets. However, it said factors like rising supplies to new platforms because of vendor diversification initiatives by global OEMs/Tier-I and higher value addition, partly stemming from an increase in outsourcing, augur well for Indian auto component suppliers.

The CNX Nifty ended at 22795.90, down by 117.25 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 22720.30 and 22921.00. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.31%, Tata Steel up by 1.97%, SBI Life Insurance up by 1.74%, Eicher Motors up by 1.51% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 5.99%, BPCL down by 2.82%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone by 2.56%, Tata Motors down by 2.41% and Wipro down by 2.22% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 27.92 points or 0.34% to 8,150.50 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 1.25 points or 0.01% to 8,664.22, while Germany’s DAX lost 14.2 points or 0.06% to 22,300.45.

Asian markets settled higher on Friday due to optimism over China's artificial intelligence potential, and after US President Donald Trump's comments raised expectations of a de-escalation in the trade war between the world's two largest economies, the United States and China. Hong Kong shares surged, led by Alibaba stock, as euphoria continued over DeepSeek’s potential in the artificial intelligence sector. Japanese shares gained as the yen retreated, even after Japan's core consumer inflation hit 3.2% in January for its fastest pace in 19 months reinforced expectations that the central bank will keep raising interest rates from levels still seen as low.