Bourses maintain gains in late afternoon trade amid positive global cues

Indian equity markets continued to trade higher in late afternoon session mirroring cues from global peers. The broader markets experienced value buying after investors opted to buy stocks at relatively reduced levels following the recent market correction. Optimism raised in domestic market on the back of positive macro-economic cues including country’s trade deficit falling to three-and-a-half-year low, 16 percent increase in gross tax collections and declining inflation. Besides, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its latest report has said that India 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. 

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in green, tracking cue from Wall Street. European equity markets were trading higher, with an upcoming German vote on historic debt reforms and Ukraine peace talks in focus.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75130.70, up by 960.75 points or 1.30% after trading in a range of 74480.15 and 75171.91. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index up by 1.80%, while Small cap index was up by 2.62%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 2.68%, Realty up by 2.55%, Consumer Disc up by 2.50%, Capital Goods up by 2.37% and  Auto up by 2.29%, while there were no losers on BSE sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Zomato up by 6.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.39%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.96%, ICICI Bank up by 2.79% and Tata Motors up by 2.69%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.63%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.89%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.61% and Reliance Industries down by 0.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, reflecting India’s expanding global footprint, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report has showed that India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) commitments surged 39.63% to $5,359.79 million in February 2025 as against $3,838.62 million in February 2024, driven by strong growth in equity investments. 

According to the report, equity commitments jumped to $3,102.48 million in February 2025, an around 5 fold rise from $625.19 million in February 2024. They were also 43.35% higher than $2,164.29 million equity commitments recorded in January 2025.

The report further noted that loan commitments stood at $1,137.02 million in February 2025, over 4 fold jump from $258.75 million in February 2024. However, guarantees issued declined to $1,120.28 million in February 2025, 62.08% fall from $2,954.68 million in February 2024.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22791.60, up by 282.85 points or 1.26% after trading in a range of 22599.20 and 22798.30. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.35%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.26%, Shriram Finance up by 2.90%, Hindalco up by 2.78% and ICICI Bank up by 2.70%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.54%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.86%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.78% and Reliance Industries down by 0.11% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 595 points or 2.4% to 24,740.57, KOSPI increased 1.65 points or 0.06% to 2,612.34, Nikkei 225 surged 448.9 points or 1.19% to 37,845.42, Taiwan Weighted added 153.04 points or 0.69% to 22,271.67, Straits Times rose 29.64 points or 0.77% to 3,889.00 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 3.63 points or 0.11% to 3,429.76, while Jakarta Composite plunged 256.3 points or 4.12% to 6,215.65.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 27.71 points or 0.32% to 8,708.00, France’s CAC rose 35.71 points or 0.44% to 8,109.69 and Germany’s DAX gained 174.72 points or 0.75% to 23,329.29.