Bourses manage to hold gains despite weak global cues

Bourses managed to hold their gains in late afternoon session despite weak global cues. The up move came as traders opted to buy fundamentally good stocks. Meanwhile, the reports of an Indian official team will be visiting Washington next week to iron out differences on certain issues before formally launching negotiations for the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA), has raised optimism among market participants. 

On the global front, Asian equity markets are trading mixed as the US-China relations continued to sour, with China's Commerce Ministry saying it would retaliate against nations cooperating with the USA's tariff wars. The European markets were closed account of Easter holiday.

Back home, substantial strength was seen in wind energy shares after Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) proposed mandatory manufacturing of components of wind turbine in India to boost the domestic manufacturing of key wind turbine components including blade, tower, gearbox and generator which resulted Suzlon Energy and Inox Wind shares surging 8% and 3.5% respectively. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79465.60, up by 912.40 points or 1.16% after trading in a range of 78776.06 and 79635.05. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index up by 2.11%, while Small cap index was up by 1.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.72%, IT up by 2.47%, Power up by 2.33%, Energy up by 2.29% and PSU up by 2.20%, while FMCG down by 0.65% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 5.16%, Indusind Bank up by 4.31%, Power Grid Corporation up by 3.71%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.45% and HCL Technologies up by 3.41%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 1.34%, ITC down by 0.94%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.84%, Asian Paints down by 0.80% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the construction industry is likely to report a YoY growth of 8-10% in operating income (OI) for FY2026, supported by an adequate order book position, on the low base of FY25. However, it said this marks a moderation from the long-term CAGR of around 15% for the FY18-FY24 period. ICRA estimates the aggregate order book/OI for its sample set of entities at around 3.5 times as on March 31, 2025, reflecting healthy growth prospects and revenue visibility. ICRA forecasts the operating margin of the players to be steady at 10.5-11.0% for FY25 and FY26.

According to the report, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in Q1 FY25, along with an elongated monsoon period and a shift to milestone-based billing in Q2 FY25, significantly impacted construction activities, especially for the road projects. After witnessing a muted 1.5% YoY growth during H1 FY25, the execution pace gained momentum in Q3 FY25, which sustained in Q4 FY25 as well. Nonetheless, owing to a muted H1, the growth in the overall OI for ICRA’s sample set in FY25 is estimated at a low 1-3%. The fresh order inflows were modest in the first nine months of FY25, mainly due to the impact of the General Elections.

The report further said sub-segments like railways, road as well as urban infrastructure reported stiff competition in the recent years. Majority of the road projects under the MoRTH/NHAI were awarded at a sizeable discount compared to the authority’s base price. The competition for other sectors (Metro, Railways, and Water Supply and Sanitation) has also intensified, with new entrants trying to diversify their order book. ICRA expects the operating margin of the players to remain range-bound within 10.5-11.0% for FY25 and FY26, supported by the relatively stable input prices and operating leverage benefits. However, the Operating Profit Margin (OPM) has gradually moderated from 13-14% levels in FY21 owing to increasing competition.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24128.20, up by 276.55 points or 1.16% after trading in a range of 23903.65 and 24189.55. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 5.04%, Indusind Bank up by 4.18%, Trent up by 4.13%, Power Grid Corporation up by 3.54% and HCL Technologies up by 3.41%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 1.28%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.17%, ITC down by 0.91%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.90% and Asian Paints down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; KOSPI increased 5.00 points or 0.2% to 2,488.42, Straits Times rose 43.53 points or 1.17% to 3,763.86 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 14.7 points or 0.45% to 3,291.43, while Jakarta Composite plunged 8.46 points or 0.13% to 6,429.81, Nikkei 225 slipped 450.36 points or 1.31% to 34,279.92 and Taiwan Weighted lost 288.83 points or 1.51% to 19,106.20.