Benchmarks trade choppy in late trade

Indian equity markets continued to trade lower in late afternoon session. The markets were trading choppy as the trader took a cautious approach after Moody's Ratings cut India's GDP growth projections for 2025 to 6.3 per cent, from 6.5 per cent, saying economies globally will see a slowdown on account of heightened U.S. policy uncertainty and trade restrictions. However, losses remained capped as the HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index jumped to 58.7 in April from 58.5 in March indicating faster expansion in employment and quicker increase in new order inflows.

On the global front, Asian equity markets are trading mixed as investors watched the latest developments in trade negotiations and awaited further policy action from Beijing to boost consumption. European equity markets were trading lower as investors react to U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff announcements after he announced a 100 percent tariff on foreign-made movies.

Back home, the Nifty PSU Bank index tumbled 249.65 points or 3.81% to 6,302.45 led by significant selling pressure in PSU banks stock. Meanwhile, significant downside move has been seen in pharma sector stock, dragging the Nifty pharma index down by 247.85 points or 1.14% to 21,527.90, after US President Trump signed the executive order to reduce the reliance drugs and boost domestic pharma manufacturing. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80613.45, down by 183.39 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 80510.15 and 80981.58. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 1.87%, while Small cap index was down by 2.06%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.09% and TECK up by 0.07%, while Realty down by 3.28%, Utilities down by 2.53%, PSU down by 2.46%, Power down by 2.38% and Oil & Gas down by 1.99% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.75%, Tata Steel up by 1.62%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.36%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.06% and Nestle up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 2.58%, NTPC down by 2.41%, Adani Ports down by 2.29%, Tata Motors down by 2.24% and SBI down by 1.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Moody's Ratings in its Global Macro Outlook 2025-26 (May update) has cut India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth projection to 6.3 per cent for 2025 calendar year, from 6.5 per cent, and said that economies globally will see a slowdown on account of heightened US policy uncertainty and trade restrictions. Besides, it retained its 2026 GDP forecast at 6.5 per cent. This compares with a 6.7 per cent growth in 2024. It noted that geopolitical stresses, like tension between India and Pakistan, also have a potential downside risk to its baseline growth forecasts. It said costs to investors and businesses are likely to rise as they factor in new geopolitical configurations when deciding where to invest, expand, and/or source goods. It further expects the Reserve Bank of India to lower benchmark policy rates further to support growth.

It said ‘Economic growth was already set to slow this year back to its potential rate. We lowered our global growth projections for 2025 and 2026 further on account of the policy shifts and more intense policy uncertainty than we had previously expected, especially in the largest two economies, the US and China’. Stating that policy uncertainty is further slowing growth in 2025, Moody's said it is likely to take a toll on consumer, business, and financial activity. Despite a pause and reduction in some tariffs, policy uncertainty and trade tensions, especially between the US and China, are likely to dampen global trade and investment with consequences across the G-20.

Moody's has lowered GDP growth projections for the US to 1 per cent in 2025 and 1.5 per cent in 2026 from 2 per cent and 1.8 per cent. That compares with growth of 2.8 per cent in 2024. For China, it expects growth to be 3.8 per cent in 2025 and 3.9 per cent in 2026, lower than 5 per cent in 2024. It said that in addition to trade policy uncertainties, Moody's baseline forecasts incorporate a degree of financial market volatility and continued political tensions in multiple geographies. Geopolitical stresses are another potential downside risk to Moody's baseline forecasts. In recent days, tensions have flared up between India and Pakistan in South Asia and China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. These join unresolved wars in Russia and Ukraine as well as the conflict in the Middle East.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24376.45, down by 84.70 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 24356.75 and 24509.65. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.17%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.71%, Tata Steel up by 1.63%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.52% and Eicher Motors up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 4.13%, JIO Financial Services down by 2.92%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.61%, Eternal down by 2.56% and Trent down by 2.50% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 158.03 points or 0.7% to 22,662.71, Jakarta Composite gained 75.49 points or 1.1% to 6,907.44 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 37.08 points or 1.12% to 3,316.11, while Taiwan Weighted lost 10.4 points or 0.05% to 20,522.59 and Straits Times fell 0.48 points or 0.01% to 3,852.59.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 0.2 points or 0% to 8,596.15, France’s CAC fell 42.62 points or 0.55% to 7,685.31 and Germany’s DAX lost 255.53 points or 1.11% to 23,089.01.