Key gauges add gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended gains in morning deals, as investors' sentiment remained buoyant amid continuous foreign fund inflows and buying in blue-chip bank stocks. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,970.17 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Traders took support with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India is ‘actively engaging’ with the new US administration and hopes to conclude the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement ‘positively’ by fall (September-October) this year. Some support also came as the Ministry of Labour and Employment stated that the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has reported a net addition of 16.10 lakh members in February 2025. The year-on-year analysis reveals a growth of 3.99 per cent in net payroll additions compared to February 2024, signifying increased employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by EPFO’s effective outreach initiatives. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as U.S. stocks suffering steep losses overnight on concerns about President Donald Trump's trade war and his criticism of the Federal Reserve. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79740.87, up by 332.37 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 79253.44 and 79762.25. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.83%, while Small cap index up by 0.98%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.72%, FMCG up by 1.21%, Bankex up by 1.11%, Consumer Durables up by 1.11% and Telecom up by 1.02%, while TECK down by 0.59%, IT down by 0.56%, Power down by 0.32% and Utilities down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.38%, Eternal up by 1.99%, HDFC Bank up by 1.94%, SBI up by 1.61% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.53%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.75%, Infosys down by 1.91%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.64%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.08% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has said that the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has reported a net addition of 16.10 lakh members in February 2025. According to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the year-on-year analysis reveals a growth of 3.99 per cent in net payroll additions compared to February 2024, signifying increased employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by EPFO’s effective outreach initiatives.

EPFO enrolled around 7.39 lakh new subscribers in February 2025. This addition of new subscribers can be attributed to growing employment opportunities, increased awareness of employee benefits, and EPFO’s successful outreach programs. A notable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, with 4.27 lakh new subscribers added in this age group, constituting a significant 57.71 per cent of the total new subscribers added in February 2025.

It stated ‘This is in consonance with the earlier trend, which indicates that most individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers.’ Furthermore, the net payroll addition for the 18-25 age group in February 2025 is approximately 6.78 lakh, representing a 3.01 per cent growth from the same period in February 2024. Approximately 13.18 lakh members, who had previously exited, rejoined the EPFO in February 2025.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24223.85, up by 98.30 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 24072.00 and 24225.60. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.23%, HDFC Bank up by 2.12%, Eternal up by 1.90%, Eicher Motors up by 1.57% and SBI up by 1.56%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.73%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.18%, Infosys down by 1.90%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.52% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.39% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 23.84 points or 0.07% to 34,256.08, Taiwan Weighted lost 245.71 points or 1.29% to 18,860.49, Hang Seng declined 7.75 points or 0.04% to 21,387.39 and KOSPI dropped 2.93 points or 0.12% to 2,485.49.

On the flip side, Straits Times rose 40.78 points or 1.08% to 3,800.00, Jakarta Composite gained 57.52 points or 0.89% to 6,503.49 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 10.16 points or 0.31% to 3,301.59.