Sensex, Nifty off opening lows in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made a pessimistic start on Tuesday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street as well as weakness in Asian counterparts, amid concerns about the economic impact after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico as well as the additional 10 percent tariff on China will take effect Tuesday. The reciprocal tariffs on other U.S. trade partners will be imposed on April 2. Ongoing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine continued to weigh on domestic sentiments. Sensex and Nifty soon trimmed some of their losses and were trading slightly lower in early deals as investors preferred to buy stocks at reduced levels. 

Traders were concerned as Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) data showed that the foreign direct investment in India dipped by 5.6 per cent year-on-year to $10.9 billion in October-December quarter of this fiscal due to global economic uncertainties. On the sectoral front, banking stocks are in focus as Fitch Ratings said Indian banks have performed robustly in the first nine months of the current financial year with the sector's impaired loan ratio close to the trough. In stock specific development, Suzlon traded higher as it secured a third order of 204.75 MW from Jindal Green Wind 1, a subsidiary of Jindal Renewables.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72895.10, down by 190.84 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 72633.54 and 72946.80. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.33%, while Small cap index was up by 1.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.45%, Industrials up by 1.42%, Capital Goods up by 1.23%, Power up by 0.59% and Realty up by 0.55%, while TECK down by 0.80%, IT down by 0.68%, Auto down by 0.58%, FMCG down by 0.54% and Telecom down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.78%, Indusind Bank up by 1.67%, Zomato up by 1.37%, Power Grid Corp up by 1.25% and ICICI Bank up by 0.52%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.61%, Titan Company down by 1.51%, HCL Technologies down by 1.31%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.31% and Infosys down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in its latest data has showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) in India dipped by 5.6 per cent year-on-year to $10.9 billion in October-December quarter of this fiscal (2024-25), as compared to FDI inflows of $11.55 billion during October-December 2023-24 due to global economic uncertainties. The data showed in the July-September quarter of the current fiscal, the inflows were up by about 43 per cent year-on-year to $13.6 billion and had increased 47.8 per cent annually to $16.17 billion in the preceding April-June quarter.

Cumulatively, during the April-December 2024-25, the inflows registered a growth of 27 per cent to $40.67 billion as against $32 billion in the same period of 2023-24. Total FDI, which includes equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital, grew by 21.3 per cent to $62.48 billion during the first nine months of this fiscal from $51.5 billion in April-December 2023-24.

During the April-December 2024-25, FDI equity inflows rose from major countries, including Singapore ($12 billion against $7.44 billion), the US ($3.73 billion against $2.83 billion), the Netherlands ($4 billion against $2.27 billion), the UAE ($4.14 billion against $2.43 billion), Cayman Islands ($296 million against $215 million) and Cyprus ($1.18 billion against $796 million). However, inflows declined from Mauritius, Japan, the UK, and Germany.

Sectorally, inflows rose in services, computer software and hardware, trading, telecommunication, automobile, and chemicals. FDI in services has increased to $7.22 billion during the first nine months of the current financial year as against $5.18 billion in the same period last year. As per the data, FDI inflows in non-conventional energy stood at $3.5 billion. The data also showed that Maharashtra received the highest inflow of $16.65 billion during April-December 2024-25. It was followed by Karnataka ($4.5 billion), and Gujarat (about $5.56 billion).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22058.60, down by 60.70 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 21964.60 and 22071.70. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 2.84%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.80%, Indusind Bank up by 1.90%, Power Grid up by 1.29% and Adani Enterprises up by 0.85%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.65%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.56%, HCL Technologies down by 1.52%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.51% and Titan Company down by 1.40% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 728.95 points or 1.93% to 37,056.52, Hang Seng declined 105.03 points or 0.46% to 22,901.24, Taiwan Weighted lost 86.31 points or 0.38% to 22,669.94, Jakarta Composite weakened 70.19 points or 1.08% to 6,449.47, Straits Times fell 15.22 points or 0.39% to 3,893.70, KOSPI dropped 1.62 points or 0.06% to 2,531.16 and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.26 points or 0.01% to 3,316.67.