Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets wrapped up the trading session in a positive terrain on Monday, driven by gains in financial stocks and strong performances in both U.S. and Asian markets. After a cautious start, markets quickly turned positive and remained higher until the end of the day, as sentiments remained upbeat after Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal assured exporters that the government is working overtime to protect India’s interests in the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) being negotiated with the United States but said that the country cannot be protectionist at a time when the world is moving towards reciprocity.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

India's forex reserves up by $15.27 billion: Traders took note of report that the Reserve Bank said India said foreign exchange reserves increased by $15.267 billion to $653.966 billion during the week ended March 7. 

India, China saw stronger growth in Q4 2024: Some support came as a UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its Global Trade Update said that the developing nations, particularly India and China, saw better than average trade expansion in the fourth quarter of 2024, while many developed nations experienced trade contractions during the same period.

India's WPI Inflation rises to 2.38% in February: Traders overlooked inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) in India surged in the month of February to 2.38% as against 2.31% in January, primarily due to increase in prices of electricity and mineral oils. 

Global front: European markets were trading in green, ahead of this week's upcoming parliamentary vote on Germany's debt reform deal and the interest rate meetings of three central banks - Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan. Most of the Asian markets ended in green, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is 'not worried' about the recent market downturn and China announced plans featuring measures to boost wages and stabilize stock and real estate markets.

The BSE Sensex ended at 74169.95, up by 341.04 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 73796.06 and 74376.35. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.77%, while Small cap index down by 0.02%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.12%, Basic Materials up by 0.92%, Metal up by 0.91%, Auto up by 0.80% and Bankex up by 0.71%, while Realty down by 0.35%, FMCG down by 0.21%, Telecom down by 0.03% were the few losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.77%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.41%, Axis Bank up by 2.31%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.90% and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 1.63%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.03%, Nestle down by 0.76%, SBI down by 0.54%, Reliance Industries down by 0.43% and Asian Paints down by 0.40% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has said that India should seek reciprocal concessions from the European Union (EU) under the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) in the medical devices sector to promote its exports. India charges zero to 10 per cent tariffs on most medical devices and a duty cut by India on medical devices without addressing EUs regulatory challenges will result in low exports but large scale imports from EU. 

To achieve a fair trade deal, GTRI said India must demand reciprocity. India should cut tariff on medical devices only if the EU reduces its non-tariff barriers. It said the ongoing India-EU FTA negotiations on medical devices are asymmetrical. While the EU demands zero tariffs on medical devices from India, it maintains high regulatory barriers that hinder Indian exports difficult in the EU markets. 

GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said the EU customs duty rates are zero, but market entry costs are substantial because of the stringent regulatory framework. Exporting to EU has become more difficult as it replaced the Medical Device Directives (EU-MDD) with the more stringent Medical Device Rules (EU-MDR). Citing an example, he said the new certification and regulatory expenses amount to 60,000-300,000 euro annually for market access of 100,000-3.75 million euro. 

The CNX Nifty ended at 22508.75, up by 111.55 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 22353.15 and 22577.00. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life Insurance up by 3.89%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 3.86%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.55%, Trent up by 2.73% and Axis Bank up by 2.37%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.59%, Britannia Industries down by 1.13%, BPCL down by 1.13%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.02% and ITC down by 1.00% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; France’s CAC rose 15.14 points or 0.19% to 8,043.42, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 15.46 points or 0.18% to 8,647.79 and Germany’s DAX gained 38.3 points or 0.17% to 23,025.12. 

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Monday ahead of the highly anticipated monetary policy announcements by major central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England. Market sentiments improved further after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is not worried about recent market downturns because corrections are healthy and normal. Besides, traders shrugged off data showing US consumer sentiment plunged to a nearly 2-1/2-year low in March and long-term inflation expectations hit their highest level in 32 years. Chinese and Hong Kong shares gained, boosted by data indicating increased consumption in the world's second-largest economy China. Japanese shares rose sharply by tracking Wall Street’s gains last Friday as the risk of the federal government shutdown eased.