Key gauges end higher on firm global markets

Indian equity benchmarks exhibited strong upward movement throughout the session and closed near the day's high points on Tuesday, powered by widespread buying amid a bullish trend in global equities. Besides, a recent decline in the dollar index, lower crude prices and improved retail sales data from the US and China boosted investor confidence.  

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

India likely to remain fastest growing economy in next two years: 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. 

Rupee gained against US Dollar: Indian rupee appreciated for the third consecutive session against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday amid positive domestic equity markets and a weak American currency.

India resolved 28,818 insolvency cases under IBC: Union Minister Harsh Malhotra announced that 40,943 applications were filed under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), with 28,818 resolved pre-admission, involving Rs 10 lakh crore. The IBC's introduction in 2016 improved India's global rank in resolving insolvency, facilitating a better environment for ease of doing business. 

Continued FII outflows: Foreign portfolio investors remained net sellers of Indian equities for the 17th straight session on Monday as they offloaded stocks worth Rs 4,488.5 crore.

Global markets remained positive: European markets were trading higher with an upcoming German vote on historic debt reforms and Ukraine peace talks in focus. Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday after data showed U.S. retail sales rebounded marginally in February, helping ease recession concerns. Investor sentiment was also underpinned by a weaker dollar and optimism over China's economy fueled by the latest economic stimulus initiatives to boost consumption. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 1131.31 points or 1.53% to 75,301.26, and the CNX Nifty was up by 325.55 points or 1.45% to 22,834.30.  

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 75,385.76 and 74,480.15 respectively. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 2.10%, while Small cap index was up by 2.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.95%, Industrials up by 2.79%, Consumer Discretionary up by 2.76%, Consumer Durables up by 2.57% and Capital Goods up by 2.44%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Zomato up by 7.11%, ICICI Bank up by 3.25%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.07%, Tata Motors up by 2.86% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.77%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.43%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.69%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.59% and Reliance Industries down by 0.13% 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 traded in a range of 22,857.80 and 22,599.20. There were 47 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.  

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 3.35%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.07%, Shriram Finance up by 3.00%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.95% and Tata Motors up by 2.69%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.34%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.50% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.44% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 31.24 points or 0.36% to 8,711.53, France’s CAC rose 31.46 points or 0.39% to 8,105.44 and Germany’s DAX gained 258.04 points or 1.11% to 23,412.61.