Key gauges add gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks added more gains in morning deals, mirroring firm cues from global markets. Sentiments remained positive with Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal’s statement that India and the United States are proactively engaged in discussing mutually beneficial issues for the Bilateral Trade Agreement with the objective of raising the two-way trade from $200 billion at present to $500 billion by 2030. Some support also came as the government data has showed that net direct tax collection grew 13.13 per cent to over Rs 21.26 lakh crore so far (till March 16, 2025) this fiscal aided by higher advance tax mop up. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green amid optimism over China’s economy. However, caution persists due to looming U.S. tariffs, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Wednesday, and ongoing geopolitical risks. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75013.58, up by 843.63 points or 1.14% after trading in a range of 74480.15 and 75070.64. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.21%, while Small cap index was up by 1.93%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.83%, Industrials up by 1.82%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.65%, Capital Goods up by 1.63% and Consumer Durables up by 1.50%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Zomato up by 3.26%, ICICI Bank up by 2.53%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.10%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.06% and Tata Motors up by 1.80%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.41%, Indusind Bank down by 0.63% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its latest report has said that India is likely to remain the fastest-growing major economy over the next two years with the GDP growth rate projected at 6.4 per cent for 2025 and at 6.6 per cent in 2026. The OECD’s projections are more or less in line with the RBI’s forecast of India’s growth prospects where the central bank has kept the growth forecast at 6.7 per cent for FY26, while the Economic Survey pegged growth between 6.3 per cent and 6.8 per cent for FY26. Meanwhile, OECD estimates China to grow at 4.8 per cent in 2025 and 4.4 per cent in 2026.

About global economy growth prospect, OECD has said that the global economy has shown some real resilience, with growth remaining steady and inflation moving downwards. However, it has warned about some emerging signs of weakness in the global economy, driven by heightened policy uncertainty. It added that increasing trade restrictions will contribute to higher costs both for production and consumption. It has emphasized the necessity to ensure a well-functioning, rules-based international trading system and to keep markets open. The report noted global GDP growth likely to moderate from 3.2 per cent in 2024 to 3.1 per cent in 2025 and 3.0 per cent in 2026, with higher trade barriers in several G20 economies and increased policy uncertainty weighing on investment and household spending. It expects United States’ annual real GDP growth to slow from its very strong recent pace, to 2.2 per cent in 2025 and 1.6 per cent in 2026.

Meanwhile, it has projected Euro area's real GDP growth at 1.0 per cent in 2025 and 1.2 per cent in 2026, as heightened uncertainty keeps growth subdued.
OECD in its report has stated that the global economy remained resilient in 2024, expanding at a solid annualized pace of 3.2 per cent through the second half of the year. However, recent activity indicators such as weakening business and consumer sentiments and rising inflationary pressure points towards softening of global growth prospects. It also added that the Higher-than-expected inflation would prompt more restrictive monetary policy and could give rise to disruptive repricing in financial markets, however, countries softening tariff policies could fuel stronger growth.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22762.65, up by 253.90 points or 1.13% after trading in a range of 22599.20 and 22768.70. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 2.48%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.30%, Hindalco up by 2.20%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.18% and Shriram Finance up by 2.18%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.38%, Indusind Bank down by 0.80%, BPCL down by 0.55% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 510.44 points or 1.36% to 37,906.96, Taiwan Weighted added 126.3 points or 0.57% to 22,244.93, Hang Seng advanced 435.21 points or 1.77% to 24,580.78, KOSPI increased 1.06 points or 0.04% to 2,611.75, Straits Times rose 40.63 points or 1.05% to 3,899.99 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 3.23 points or 0.09% to 3,429.36.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite plunged 395.87 points or 6.12% to 6,076.08.