Sensex, Nifty trade lower in volatile session

Indian equity benchmarks made a cautious start on Wednesday, as US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs continue to cause uncertainty among market participants. At this point of trade, Sensex and Nifty are trading lower in volatile session. Some cautiousness came as S&P Global Ratings cut India’s GDP growth projections to 6.5 per cent for the next fiscal as it expects that economies in the APAC region will feel the strain of rising US tariffs and pushback on globalisation.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading higher, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid optimism about earlier interest rate cuts by the US Fed after US consumer confidence deteriorated by more than expected in the month of March. Traders are also optimistic about some tariff exemptions by the US administration as they seek greater clarity on the next round of tariffs.

Back home, defence stocks are in focus as the Ministry of Defence said India’s defence production has reached a record Rs 1.27 lakh crore in FY 2023-24. In stock specific development, NCC surged on receiving two advance work orders worth a total of Rs 10,804.56 crore (excluding GST) from Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77930.47, down by 86.72 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 77784.23 and 78167.87. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.17%, while Small cap index was down by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.34%, Oil & Gas up by 0.12%, Bankex up by 0.07%, Metal up by 0.04% and Energy up by 0.04%, while Healthcare down by 0.97%, Industrials down by 0.49%, Capital Goods down by 0.41%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.33% and Utilities down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.12%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.06%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.87%, Power Grid up by 0.76% and HCL Technologies up by 0.39%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 2.48%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.93%, NTPC down by 0.93%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.86% and Axis Bank down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada has said that India and the US would focus on increasing market access, reducing import duty and non-tariff barriers, and enhancing supply chain integration in the proposed bilateral trade agreement. He said that as on date, reciprocal tariffs have not been applied by the US on India. He said that the government continues to engage with the US to achieve enhancement and broadening of bilateral trade ties in a mutually beneficial and fair manner.

Prasada said ‘Both countries plan to negotiate a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement. Both countries would focus on increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, enhancing supply chain integration and resolving bilateral trade issues’. The US has issued the Memorandum on Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs on February 13, wherein the Secretary of Commerce and US Trade Representative are to take necessary actions to investigate harm to America from any non-reciprocal trade agreements adopted by trading partners and provide a report with detailed proposed remedies for each trading partner, based on which, US action against relevant country could, thereafter be undertaken.

Regarding tariffs on agri products, the minister said that as per WTO 2023, India’s simple average tariff rate is 17 per cent, with simple average agricultural tariff (which includes textiles) being 39 per cent and for industrial goods 13.5 per cent for 2023. Post Union Budget 2025-26, the simple average industrial tariff has reduced to 10.66 per cent. Top 10 commodities of India’s export to the US in 2023-24 are drug formulations, biologicals ($8 billion); pearl, precious, semiprecious stones pearl, precious, semi-precious stones ($6.57 billion); petroleum products ($5.83 billion); telecom instruments ($5.82 billion); gold and other precious metal jewellery ($3.3 billion); iron and steel products ($2.78 billion); ready-made garments of cotton including accessories ($2.74 billion); electronic components ($2.69 billion); cotton fabrics, made ups etc. ($2.61 billion); and marine products ($2.5 billion).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23653.15, down by 15.50 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 23614.70 and 23736.50. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 2.11%, ICICI Bank up by 0.84%, Power Grid up by 0.81%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.71% and SBI Life Insurance up by 0.61%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.70%, NTPC down by 1.44%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.14%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.98% and Shriram Finance down by 0.93% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 248.75 points or 0.66% to 38,029.29, Jakarta Composite gained 223.98 points or 3.59% to 6,459.60, Hang Seng advanced 55.94 points or 0.24% to 23,400.19, KOSPI increased 24.97 points or 0.95% to 2,640.78, Straits Times strengthened 13.25 points or 0.34% to 3,967.78, Taiwan Weighted added 7.71 points or 0.03% to 22,280.90 and Shanghai Composite was up by 5.99 points or 0.18% to 3,375.97.