Indian markets remain lackluster in late morning deals

Tracking negative cues from other Asian markets, Indian equity benchmarks remained lackluster in late morning deals, amid concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump's flip-flop tariff policy and its impact on inflation, interest rates and global growth. Heavy selling at IT and TECK counters also hit domestic sentiments, while Indusind Bank was witnessing massive fall, after the bank reported discrepancies in its derivative portfolio. The street took a note of RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra’s statement that the Reserve Bank will continue to promote innovations in payment systems with soft touch regulations within regulatory guardrails and expand the reach of UPI for more efficient cross-border payments.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower, after Japan's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2024. That was down from the first estimate for a 0.7 percent increase but still up from 0.3 percent in the three months prior. On an annualized basis, GDP was up 2.2 percent - down from 2.8 percent in the first estimate but up from 1.2 percent in the third quarter.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73949.70, down by 165.47 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 73663.60 and 74095.46. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.12%, while Small cap index was down by 1.00%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.83%, Telecom up by 1.10%, Oil & Gas up by 0.74%, Energy up by 0.48% and PSU up by 0.22%, while IT down by 1.47%, TECK down by 0.74%, Industrials down by 0.44%, Auto down by 0.40% and Bankex down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.71%, ICICI Bank up by 1.84%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.31%, NTPC up by 0.90% and ITC up by 0.58%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 23.00%, Zomato down by 4.59%, Infosys down by 2.75%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.19% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that domestic commercial vehicle industry's wholesale volumes are expected to grow 3-5 per cent year-on-year in FY26. This follows a flat volume movement estimated in FY25, marred by the demand slowdown in the first half of the fiscal due to the general elections. Resumption of construction and infrastructure activities, steady rural demand along with higher replacement sales stemming out of ageing fleets and government mandates are the likely driving factors to propel the said volume expansion towards the end of FY2025 and through FY2026. 

According to the report, the sustained push in infrastructure development, a steady increase in mining activities and the improvement in roads/highway connectivity are expected to support volumes going forward. The replacement demand would also remain healthy, primarily due to the ageing fleet, estimated at 10 years for the medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCVs), and is expected to aid the industry volume expansion in the medium term. 

The report said among the various sub-segments, the M&HCV (trucks) wholesale volumes are likely to grow by 0-3 per cent year-on-year in FY26 after seeing a flattish growth or marginal contraction in FY25. Wholesale volumes for the domestic light commercial vehicles (LCV trucks) are expected to see a modest 3-5 per cent YoY expansion in FY26, after registering a flattish growth or marginal contraction in FY25.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22436.80, down by 23.50 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 22314.70 and 22485.85. There were 27 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 2.80%, BPCL up by 2.01%, Trent up by 1.90%, ICICI Bank up by 1.85% and Adani Enterprises up by 1.41%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 23.01%, Infosys down by 2.77%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.22%, Wipro down by 2.10% and Tech Mahindra down by 2.02% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Hang Seng declined 229.56 points or 0.97% to 23,553.93, Jakarta Composite plunged 60.02 points or 0.92% to 6,538.19, Shanghai Composite weakened 9.92 points or 0.29% to 3,356.24, Straits Times fell 73.62 points or 1.89% to 3,825.45, KOSPI dropped 28.82 points or 1.12% to 2,541.57, Nikkei 225 slipped 307.55 points or 0.83% to 36,720.72 and Taiwan Weighted lost 388.06 points or 1.76% to 22,071.09.