Post Session: Quick Review

Local equity markets extended their winning streak for the fifth consecutive session on Friday, with the Nifty gaining 0.69%, driven by broad-based buying across all sectors, with IT stocks rebounding after a slow start. Indices made a cautious start, but soon turned positive and stayed higher throughout the day, supported by strong buying in blue-chip stocks and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turning net buyers.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

Markets rally as FIIs turn net buyers: Traders took support as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers. The Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,239.14 crore on March 20.

India's services exports registering healthy growth rates: Some optimism came as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India's services exports are registering healthy growth rates and the sector should aspire to reach $450 billion in exports, overtaking merchandise shipments, in the next financial year.

Trump says India to faces reciprocal tariffs: Traders overlooked U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement that India will face reciprocal tariffs, a move likely to hurt India's exports of agricultural and pharmaceutical goods.

Global front: European markets were trading in red, as investors fretted about increasing global economic uncertainties resulting from geopolitical tensions and U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs. Most of the Asian markets ended in red, even after Japan overall consumer price inflation softened in February largely due to government subsidies for energy but the increase in core inflation together with higher wage growth and services inflation put pressure on the Bank of Japan to lift key interest rates.  

The BSE Sensex ended at 76905.51, up by 557.45 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 76095.26 and 77041.94. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.14%, while Small cap index up by 2.05%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.25%, Utilities up by 2.11%, Telecom up by 1.91%, Energy up by 1.86% and PSU up by 1.63%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.79% and Metal down by 0.42% were the few losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.09%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.62%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.14%, Axis Bank up by 2.13% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.11%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.19%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.19%, Infosys down by 0.98%, Titan Company down by 0.78% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.63% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Employees' Provident Fund Organization’s (EPFO) provisional payroll data for January 2025 has revealed a net addition of 17.89 lakh members in the month of January, exhibiting 11.67% Y-o-Y growth. EPFO has stated that this 11.67% Y-o-Y growth signifies employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by EPFO’s effective outreach initiatives. It has stated that EPFO enrolled around 8.23 lakh new subscribers in January 2025 with subscribers from 18-25 age group contributing in 4.70 lakh new subscriptions constituting a significant 57.07% of the total new subscribers added in January. Further, the net payroll addition for the age group 18-25 for January 2025 is approximately 7.27 lakh, reflecting an increase of 6.19% compared to December 2024 and an 8.15% growth Y-o-Y. This is in consonance with the earlier trend, which indicates that most individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers, EPFO added.

The payroll data highlights that around 15.03 lakh members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO, reflecting a 23.55% Y-o-Y growth as these members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the ambit of EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus safeguarding long-term financial well-being and extending their social security protection. The Gender-wise analysis of payroll data unveils that out of the total new subscribers added during the month, around 2.17 lakhs are new female subscribers exhibiting 6.01%Y-o-Y growth, while the net female payroll addition during the month stood at around 3.44 lakh, reflecting increase of 13.48% Y-o-Y. The growth in female member additions is a indication of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

The industry wise month on month comparison of data indicates significant growth in the net payroll addition working in establishments engaged in industries like expert services, financing establishment, and road motor transport, among others. The expert services consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services and miscellaneous activities contributed 39.86% in total net payroll addition. 

The CNX Nifty ended at 23350.40, up by 159.75 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 23132.80 and 23402.70. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life Insurance up by 3.43%, NTPC up by 2.79%, BPCL up by 2.75%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.72% and ONGC up by 2.72%. On the flip side, Trent down by 1.60%, Hindalco down by 1.50%, Wipro down by 1.38%, Infosys down by 1.25% and Tata Steel down by 1.18% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; Germany’s DAX lost 216.55 points or 0.94% to 22,782.60, France’s CAC fell 54.26 points or 0.67% to 8,039.94 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 34.27 points or 0.39% to 8,667.72.

Asian markets settled mostly down on Friday, tracking Wall Street’s modest fall overnight on US President Donald Trump's tariffs fears, and signs of escalating geopolitical tensions following reports of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and a huge blast triggered by a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian airfield. Chinese and Hong Kong shares dropped as China stimulus expectations faded, while investors are awaiting results from some of China's biggest banks and consumer firms due next week. Moreover, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined, despite weaker yen and softer inflation data.