Key gauges fall sharply lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply lower in morning deals, pressured by Realty, IT and TECK stocks, amid uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump’s impending tariff announcement. Traders remained cautious as the think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has indicated that India's merchandise exports, which have been contracting since October last year, are likely to decline slightly by the end of this fiscal year falling below $435 billion. The exports dipped 10.85 per cent in February to $36.91 billion owed to volatility in petroleum prices and global uncertainties. Some concern also came as RBI data showed India's current account deficit (CAD) inched up to $11.5 billion, or 1.1 per cent of GDP, in the December quarter from $10.4 billion (1.1 per cent of GDP) in the year-ago period, mainly due to higher trade deficit. Adding to the pessimism, data released by the finance ministry showed India's external debt increased by 10.7 per cent to $717.9 billion at the end of December 2024 from $648.7 billion in December 2023. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green, clawing back some of the hefty losses suffered in recent weeks, though sentiment remains sluggish and gold hit another record high as Donald Trump prepares to unveil sweeping tariffs. Back home, on the sectoral front, airline stocks remained in watch as ratings agency CareEdge said air passenger traffic is likely to rise at a 9 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) between FY2025 and FY2027, taking the passenger volume to approximately 485 million by FY27. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76717.58, down by 697.34 points or 0.90% after trading in a range of 76705.09 and 77487.05. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.10%, while Small cap index was up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.12%, Auto up by 0.66%, Oil & Gas up by 0.51%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.39% and PSU up by 0.25%, while Realty down by 1.80%, IT down by 1.72%, TECK down by 0.95%, Bankex down by 0.86% and Consumer Durables down by 0.77% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 5.59%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.00%, Eternal up by 0.82% and Nestle up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.80%, HDFC Bank down by 2.08%, Axis Bank down by 1.93%, TCS down by 1.85% and Sun Pharma down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to unveil the ‘NITI NCAER States Economic Forum’ portal today (April 01, 2025) providing access to a comprehensive repository of data on social, economic, and fiscal parameters of states spanning over three decades till financial year 2022-23.  The portal, developed by NITI Aayog, in collaboration with the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), offers direct access to the complete database categorised across five verticals -- Demography; Economic Structure; Fiscal; Health and Education of states.

The portal will provide macro and fiscal landscape of 28 Indian states, structured around indicators on demography, economic structure, socio-economic and fiscal indicators. The portal will facilitate an understanding of macro, fiscal, demographic, and socio-economic trends; easily accessible data and user-friendly format and will also address the ongoing need for consolidated sectoral data in one place.

It will further help in benchmarking the data of each state against that of other states and the national figures. It will also provide a forum to policymakers, researchers, and others interested in alluding to the data for informed debates and discussions. It will act as a central repository of information, providing access to an extensive database of social, economic, and fiscal indicators spanning the past 30 years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23374.85, down by 144.50 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 23339.10 and 23565.15. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 5.56%, Trent up by 4.98%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.16%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.95% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.84%, HDFC Bank down by 2.04%, Axis Bank down by 1.93%, TCS down by 1.80% and HCL Technologies down by 1.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 89.09 points or 0.25% to 35,706.65, Taiwan Weighted added 521.13 points or 2.52% to 21,217.03, Hang Seng advanced 244.38 points or 1.05% to 23,363.96, KOSPI increased 46.94 points or 1.89% to 2,528.06 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 19.56 points or 0.58% to 3,355.31.

On the flip side, Straits Times fell 7.92 points or 0.2% to 3,964.51.