Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets ended flat with positive bias on Tuesday, ahead of monthly F&O expiry. Markets started on a positive note, as IT and financial stocks outperformed, supported by foreign institutional inflows. However, indices retreated from the day’s highs and hovered near the neutral line, as traders were cautious amid uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.  

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

FIIs remain net buyers for third day: Foreign investors remained net buyers of Indian equities for a third straight day on Monday and bought shares to the extent of Rs 3,055.76 crore, as per provisional data.

India's financial system more resilient & diverse: Some support came as an IMF report said that the Indian financial system has become more resilient and diverse, driven by rapid economic growth and withstood the pandemic well. 

India, US to expand bilateral trade ties: Some support also came as the commerce ministry said Indian and US officials will hold discussions this week to expand and deepen bilateral trade ties in a mutually beneficial manner and enhance supply chain integration.

Global front: European markets were trading in green, as a survey showed German business morale rose in line with forecasts in March after a successful vote on an historic change to the country's debt borrowing rules. Asian markets ended mixed, as investors awaited greater clarity on the next round of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The BSE Sensex ended at 78017.19, up by 32.81 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 77745.63 and 78741.69. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.13%, while Small cap index down by 1.63%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.17% and TECK up by 0.97%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.89%, Realty down by 1.51%, Energy down by 1.43%, Utilities down by 1.39% and Metal down by 1.33% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 3.32%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.16%, Infosys up by 1.71%, Axis Bank up by 1.21% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.98%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 5.57%, Indusind Bank down by 5.09%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 1.89%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.53% and SBI down by 1.46% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, domestic rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that private capital expenditure's share in the overall investments in the economy dipped to a decadal low of 33 per cent in FY24. According to report, among the private companies, it was the unlisted players which were subdued in investments as compared to the listed entities. It can be noted that for the last few years, the government has been driving investments, leading to concerns in some quarters over the private sector's absence and its impact on the overall economic activity. The private sector has instead focused on deploying excess cash at reducing loan burdens rather than investing in new facilities, choosing to run at high capacity utilisation. 

Illustrating the importance of investments in the economy, it said Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF), encompassing the gross addition to fixed assets and intangibles, constitutes around 30 per cent of India's nominal GDP, making it the second largest component after private final consumption expenditure. The GFCF has been slowing down since FY23, largely due to the slowdown in the private sector's activity, the agency said, adding that government capex and household investments in real estate have helped it. 

Further, it said the listed corporates increased their capex spending by 28 per cent in FY23 and 12 per cent in FY24, but the unlisted entities experienced a contraction in FY24, dragging overall private capex growth. Besides, it stated the cash generation of corporates has consistently improved, post the Covid shock, with the ratio of cash flow from operations vis-a-vis capex increasing to 1.6 times in FY2024 from an average of 1.3 times from FY2014 to FY2020. This has also led to a steady reduction in gearing levels to 0.9 times in FY2024 from 1.1 times in FY2014.

The CNX Nifty ended at 23668.65, up by 10.30 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 23601.40 and 23869.60. There were 19 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 3.35%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.69%, Trent up by 2.58%, Grasim Industries up by 2.24% and Infosys up by 2.24%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 4.84%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.68%, Adani Enterprises down by 2.04%, Coal India down by 1.90% and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 1.53% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; France’s CAC rose 66.55 points or 0.83% to 8,088.88, Germany’s DAX gained 135.95 points or 0.59% to 22,988.61 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 36.29 points or 0.42% to 8,674.30. 

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday tracking Wall Street’s gains overnight after reports emerged that US President Donald Trump is narrowing his approach to tariffs set to take effect on April 2nd, likely omitting a set of industry-specific tariffs. Japanese shares gained after the yen weakened versus other major currencies, even as minutes from BoJ's January policy meeting revealed a growing consensus among policymakers that further tightening would be appropriate. However, Hong Kong shares fell as technology shares came under selling pressure following Xiaomi Corp's $5.5 billion share sale. Chinese shares settled flat in negative territory due to concerns over the effectiveness of China's stimulus measures in offsetting new US tariffs. The People's Bank of China (PBoC) said that it would allow qualified banks to pay different interest rates for the loans, known as the medium-term lending facility (MLF), signaling a greater willingness to ease monetary policy.