Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets continued their bullish run on Monday, with both Sensex and Nifty closing near the day’s high points, supported by strong foreign inflows and broad-based sectoral gains. Markets made a positive start and extended their gains throughout the session, after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated he'd retain 'flexibility' when it comes to a reciprocal tariff plan expected on April 2.  

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

Fresh foreign fund inflows: Traders found some support amid fresh foreign fund inflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 7,470.36 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. 

India’s forex reserves hit $654.27 billion: Sentiments were upbeat, as the data released by Reserve Bank of India showed that India's forex reserves increased to $654.27 billion in the week ending March 14, 2025, up by $0.305 billion. 

India’s private sector growth slows in March: The street overlooked the HSBC flash Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey stating that private sector output in India increased at a slower pace in March as compared to the previous month, amid a quicker expansion in manufacturing activity and a softer increase in services activity.

Global front: European markets were trading in green, ahead of business activity surveys from the region due later in the day. Asian markets ended mixed, as the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in March, with a manufacturing PMI score of 48.3. That's down from 49.0 in February, and it moved further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. 

The BSE Sensex ended at 77984.38, up by 1078.87 points or 1.40% after trading in a range of 77179.35 and 78107.23. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.32%, while Small cap index up by 1.17%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 2.84%, Bankex up by 2.53%, Utilities up by 2.42%, Power up by 2.31% and Industrials up by 2.00%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on BSE (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 4.63%, NTPC up by 4.51%, SBI up by 3.75%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.54% and Power Grid up by 3.27%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 2.73%, Indusind Bank down by 2.52%, Eternal down by 2.04%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.83% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.60% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that India's agricultural growth rate is expected to be 20 per cent in the next two years and the Centre's first priority is to make the sector economically viable and create more jobs. He stated around 65 per cent of the country's population is rural but they contribute only 12 per cent in growth. 

Further, in order to become a $5 trillion economy and achieve third rank in the work, he the country's rural economy and agriculture are very important. He said ‘The government is working on boosting the irrigation sector. We need to have the most successful technology in the world. The agriculture economy will create more jobs in the rural sector.’ 

Besides, while pointing out that 36 green highways are being built along with projects costing Rs 3 lakh crore for port connectivity, he said the basic problem facing the economy was logistics cost, which stands at 14-16 per cent. He said ‘We need to bring it down to 9 per cent. Good roads, alternate fuels will ensure cost reduction. Exports will increase by 1.5 per cent. Our problem is not resources but expenditure.’

The CNX Nifty ended at 23658.35, up by 307.95 points or 1.32% after trading in a range of 23433.50 and 23708.75. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 4.67%, NTPC up by 4.45%, SBI up by 3.66%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.54% and Power Grid up by 3.09%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.78%, Titan Company down by 2.74%, Trent down by 1.85%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.97% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.41% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; Germany’s DAX gained 64.79 points or 0.28% to 22,956.47, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 18 points or 0.21% to 8,664.79 and France’s CAC rose 7.84 points or 0.1% to 8,050.79.

Asian markets ended mostly down on Monday as investors awaited clarity on the next round of tariffs from the US President Donald Trump set for April 2. Japanese shares marginally fell after a survey showed Japanese business activity shrank for the first time in five months in March. Seoul shares declined after South Korea's Constitutional Court dismissed the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and reinstated him as acting president, ruling the accusations against him weren't against the law or weren't serious enough to remove him from office. However, Chinese and Hong Kong shares gained amid signs of improving global sentiment towards China. The US President Donald Trump said his top trade chief, Jamieson Greer, plans to speak with his Chinese counterpart this week amid an escalating tariff war.