Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets ended in a positive terrain on Wednesday, driven by foreign fund inflows and robust performance in Financial and Metal stocks. Indices made a cautious start, as investors remained concerned ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy announcement later today and geopolitical tensions escalated as Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza. However, as the day progressed, markets gained momentum and traded in green for most part of the day.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

FIIs turn net buyers: Following 17 consecutive sessions of net selling, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) made a return to the buying side on March 18, purchasing equities worth Rs 694.57 crore.

India, Malaysia agree to speed up ASEAN FTA review: Some support came as commerce ministry said that India and Malaysia have agreed to take steps to speed up the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) for its substantial conclusion by 2025.

India, New Zealand aim to finalize FTA: Traders took support with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that India and New Zealand are working to finalize a comprehensive and mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Global front: Most of the European markets were trading in red, amid economic headwinds both at home and abroad, the Bank of England is widely expected to hold interest rates when it meets on Thursday. Asian markets ended mixed, after the Bank of Japan left its interest rate unchanged after hiking the rate by a quarter-point early this year. 

The BSE Sensex ended at 75449.05, up by 147.79 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 75201.48 and 75568.38. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 2.28%, while Small cap index was up by 2.17%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.75%, Industrials up by 2.55%, Power up by 2.30%, Capital Goods up by 2.24% and Utilities up by 2.16%, while IT down by 0.83%, FMCG down by 0.43% and TECK down by 0.42% were the few losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.49%, Zomato up by 2.45%, Power Grid Corp up by 2.22%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.01% and Indusind Bank up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.28%, ITC down by 1.51%, TCS down by 1.34%, Infosys down by 1.29% and Sun Pharma down by 1.07% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, with an aim to establish a framework to promote trade in the local currencies, the Reserve bank of India (RBI) and Bank of Mauritius have signed Memorandum of understanding (MoU). The MoU will culminate in the implementation of the INR-MUR Local Currency Settlement (LCS) System to reduce dependency on hard currencies for cross-border transactions. The LCS system will help both parties to further develop their respective exchange markets and facilitate bilateral trade and settlement, financial market development, direct investment, remittances, economic growth and stability. The system will promote the use of the INR and MUR for all current account transactions and permissible capital account transactions between both the countries.

The MoU also provides for cooperation to create an INR Clearing Centre in Mauritius, and the inclusion of the INR as a settlement currency in the Mauritius Automated Clearing and Settlement System. The clearing centre will ultimately be extended to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’s Regional Payment and Settlement System (COMESA), for which the Bank of Mauritius is the settlement bank. Besides, it is proposed that the INR be included as a settlement currency, the initiative will promote Mauritius as a jurisdiction for clearing and settlement in INR on the continent. The RBI has cleared the way for trade using Indian Rupee by allowing authorized banks in India to open Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVA) of correspondent banks of the trading partner.

In 2022, RBI to promote the growth of global trade with an emphasis on boosting exports from India and to attract increasing interest in the rupee implemented an arrangement allowing transactions in domestic currencies. India has been working towards making the Indian Rupee a global currency and allowing international trade settlement. This mechanism will help in internationalizing the Indian currency in the long run. Until now, the country has been able to do rupee-denominated trade with a few countries and is in close coordination with several others to implement the same arrangement.

The CNX Nifty ended at 22907.60, up by 73.30 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 22807.95 and 22940.70. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 3.85%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 3.75%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.92%, Tata Steel up by 2.51% and Power Grid up by 2.36%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.31%, TCS down by 1.56%, ITC down by 1.48%, Infosys down by 1.30% and Sun Pharma down by 0.88% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX lost 48.45 points or 0.21% to 23,332.25 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 13.89 points or 0.16% to 8,691.34, while France’s CAC rose 23.36 points or 0.29% to 8,137.93. 

Asian markets ended mixed on Wednesday tracking Wall Streets’ overnight fall following growing concerns over US President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff policies, while investors awaited the US Federal Reserve's policy decision with focus on its updated projections for economic growth and inflation. Meanwhile, rising US recession fears and tensions flared over Gaza have also added pressure on market sentiments. Chinese shares marginally fell amid reports that banks are slashing rates on consumer loans to record rates, following efforts by policymakers to stabilize growth and counter US tariffs. Japan's Nikkei 225 declined as the Bank of Japan left rates steady and signaled concern about the impact of trade tensions on the global economy.