Sensex, Nifty trade firm in early delas on value buying

Indian equity benchmarks made an optimistic start on Tuesday despite signs of rising tensions between the U.S. and China. Sensex and Nifty are trading firm with gains of around one and half a percent each in early deals as investors preferred to buy stocks at reduced levels, after markets slipped sharply in previous session. Investors are awaiting the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee meeting's decision scheduled for tomorrow, along with fourth quarter numbers from India Inc and macroeconomic data points later in the week. Some support came as India and Portugal agreed to strengthen cooperation in the United Nations (UN) and other multilateral forums.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are optimistic after the U.S. said almost 70 countries have contacted them to begin negotiations on tariffs after the U.S. slapped steeper-than-expected reciprocal tariffs on its trading partner countries. Adding to worries about a global trade war, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose an additional 50 percent tariff on Chinese goods unless the country withdraws its new 34 percent tariff on U.S. goods.

Back home, in stock specific development, Titan Company jumped after reporting strong business growth in the March 2025 quarter. Bharat Electronics surged on winning a contract worth Rs 2,210 crore from the Ministry of Defense.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74161.37, up by 1023.47 points or 1.40% after trading in a range of 73993.97 and 74421.65. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index jumped 1.17%, while Small cap index was up by 1.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.54%, Realty up by 1.94%, TECK up by 1.88%, IT up by 1.76%, Telecom up by 1.61%, while there was no loser on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 4.87%, Bajaj Finserv up by 4.12%, Infosys up by 3.08%, SBI up by 3.01% and Bajaj Finance up by 2.66%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.12% and Nestle down by 0.04% were the only losers.

Meanwhile, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said the ‘applied tariffs; to the US are only 7-8 per cent, which he described as not humongous. Declining to disclose details on the ongoing negotiations with the US, which has slapped a 26 per cent ‘reciprocal tariff’ on the country, Goyal said India believes it can have bilateral trade pacts with countries that exercise fair trade practices. Lashing out at China, he said the northern neighbour's unfair practices have brought the world to the current juncture, and made it clear that car maker BYD's entry to India is not welcome at the current juncture.

Asserting that we are not in an era of de-globalisation but one of re-globalisation, Goyal said the current turmoil could provide a good opportunity for India if countries respecting fair practices come together. On the US tariff predicament, he explained that India's tariffs are a protection against unfair trade and a shield against economies indulging in aspects like dumping. Acknowledging that the overall Indian tariffs on the US work out at 17 per cent, he said that a lot of them pertain to goods which India doesn't import at all.

Goyal said the ongoing changes in the US trade policy will not impact domestic growth so much because India is not an export-dependent economy. He further said the rupee is not as volatile as peer emerging market currencies, and added that Indian equities are ‘fortunate’ to be at the bottom of the table of markets impacted by Trump's disruptive policies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22479.30, up by 317.70 points or 1.43% after trading in a range of 22446.75 and 22577.55. There were 47 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 4.90%, Titan Company up by 4.86%, Bajaj Finserv up by 4.04%, Bharat Electronics up by 3.49% and Infosys up by 3.18%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 0.20%, Power Grid down by 0.07% and ONGC down by 0.05% were the few losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 1657.13 points or 5.32% to 32,793.71, Hang Seng advanced 269.51 points or 1.36% to 20,097.81, Shanghai Composite strengthened 28.19 points or 0.9% to 3,124.77 and KOSPI increased 13.42 points or 0.58% to 2,341.62. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted lost 993.22 points or 5.16% to 18,239.13, Jakarta Composite plunged 510.32 points or 7.84% to 6,000.30 and Straits Times was down by 62.02 points or 1.75% to 3,478.48.