Post Session: Quick Review

Sensex and Nifty ended Tuesday’s trading session flat ahead of monthly F&O expiry. Indices made a cautious start, as sentiment remained downbeat due to US President Donald Trump's vow that the US tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico will go forward next week onwards, and persistent foreign outflows. But soon, indices managed to trade in green, as some support came after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed that the private corporate sector showed improvements across various segments in Q3FY25. In dying hours of the session, indices erased most of their gains and ended flat.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

FIIs selling pressure: Traders were cautious with exchange data showed Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 6,286.70 crore on a net basis on Monday. 

ICRA reports 7-8% growth for Indian companies in Q4FY25: Traders paid no attention towered the ICRA’s latest report stating that Indian companies are likely to clock 7-8 per cent revenue growth during the March quarter of the current fiscal year (Q4FY25), led by revival in rural demand and uptick in government spending. 

India-UK resume FTA talks to boost trade: Traders took note of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that India and the UK resumed their negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), which is expected to double or even triple bilateral trade from the current $20 billion in the next 10 years.

Global front: Most of the European markets were trading in green, despite investors fretted about U.S. investment curbs on China and waited for Germany to sort out the formation of its new government. Asian markets ended in red, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain concerned about the lingering US tariff threats and uncertainty about the outlook for global economic growth.

The BSE Sensex ended at 74602.12, up by 147.71 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 74400.37 and 74785.08. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.57%, while Small cap index was down by 0.45%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.66%, Auto up by 0.43%, Consumer Durables up by 0.37%, FMCG up by 0.26 and Consumer Discretionary up by 0.04%, while Metal down by 1.69%, Oil & Gas down by 1.34%, Realty down by 1.27%, Energy down by 1.10% and PSU down by 1.02% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.39%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.04%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.40%, Nestle up by 1.34% and Zomato up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.62%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.48%, Power Grid down by 1.41%, TCS down by 1.26% and Asian Paints down by 1.22% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the Indian electronics and electrical industry should look at increasing exports to $100 billion over the next 5-7 years. He said the export volume of electronic goods ranks second in the country against 167th in 2015. In January, the export volume of electronic goods was $3 billion.

The minister also said India's electronic goods industry must work together towards more resilient supply chains, upgrade quality standards and provide high-quality goods and services to the world at competitive rates. He urged the participants to work together to bring competitive advantages to the manufacturing sector.

The minister stressed that the industry has a responsibility to ensure that consumers are provided better deals. He urged the industry leaders and participants to shun protectionism and focus on balancing the interests of the industry, particularly the MSME sector. He said protectionism beyond a point starts hurting the consumer, and added that balancing the interests of the MSME sector, along with the customers, should be the industry's biggest priority. 

The CNX Nifty ended at 22547.55, down by 5.80 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 22513.90 and 22625.30. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.53%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.50%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.60%, Nestle up by 1.35% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.50%, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories down by 3.13%, Trent down by 2.09%, Sun Pharma down by 1.58% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.46% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 18.2 points or 0.21% to 8,677.18 and Germany’s DAX gained 3.71 points or 0.02% to 22,429.64, while France’s CAC fell 6.06 points or 0.07% to 8,084.93.

Asian markets finished down on Tuesday tracking weak performance on Wall Street overnight after US President Donald Trump's comments that tariffs on Canada and Mexico will proceed as planned once the month-long delay ends next week. Chinese and Hong Kong shares declined as investors were rattled by an order from US President Donald Trump to restrict Chinese investments in strategic areas such as chips, AI and aerospace. Seoul shares fell as the Bank of Korea cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.75% and also lowered its GDP forecast for this year to 1.5%, down from 1.9% in the November forecast amid ongoing political uncertainty surrounding President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial. Japanese shares dropped, even as shares in Japan's five largest trading houses surged after Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway's stakes in them would likely increase somewhat over time.