Post Session: Quick Review

After a heavy sell-off in the previous session, Local equity benchmarks ended in a positive terrain on Wednesday, amid easing wholesale price index (WPI) inflation and supportive cues from other Asian markets. Markets made an optimistic start, as sentiments got boost after the official data showed India's consumer price inflation eased further in April to the lowest level in nearly six years amid a slower rise in food prices. In afternoon session, indices came off from day’s high points, but managed to end on higher note.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

India's WPI inflation eases to 0.85% in April: Sentiments got boost after the government data showed that India’s wholesale inflation eased further to 0.85% in April on an annual basis as against a four-month low of 2.05% in March.

India reserves right to impose retaliatory duty on US goods: Traders took a note of report that India has ‘only’ reserved its right under WTO norms to impose retaliatory duties on certain American products over the US' steel and aluminum tariffs and it may choose to resolve the issue through the ongoing bilateral trade agreement (BTA) negotiations between the two countries. 

Investors show strong faith in India's economy, PM's policies: Sentiments remained upbeat with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s statement that the investors have continued to exude a high level of confidence in India's economy, the Prime Minister's policy and the country's talent. 

Global front: European markets were trading in red, as traders overlooked Germany's consumer price inflation softened to a six-month low in April.  Asian markets ended mostly in green as producer prices in Japan were up 0.2 percent on month in April, slowing from 0.4 percent in March.

The BSE Sensex ended at 81330.56, up by 182.34 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 80910.03 and 81691.87. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.19%, while Small cap index up by 1.63%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.46%, Industrials up by 1.73%, Realty up by 1.71%, Capital Goods up by 1.49% and Basic Materials up by 1.49%, while Bankex down by 0.34% was the only losing index on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.95%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.26%, Eternal up by 2.20%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.66% and Infosys up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.64%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.08%, Tata Motors down by 1.02%, Power Grid Corp down by 0.75% and NTPC down by 0.67% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report titled ‘Overseas Direct Investment for April 2025’ has showed that India’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) commitments rose 89.62% to $6,806.49 million in April 2025 from $3,589.53 million in April 2024. Sequentially, they rose marginally by 15.31% from $5,902.73 million in March 2025. 

Outbound FDI, expressed as a financial commitment, has three components: equity, loans, and guarantees. According to the report, equity commitments zoomed over 3 fold to $2,723.97 million in April 2025, compared to $740.18 million a year ago.

Loan commitments increased 69.41% to $1,164.42 million in April 2025 as against $687.33 million a year ago. They were lower than the $2,128.41 million committed in March. Guarantees for overseas units rose 34.97% to $2,918.10 million in April 2025, from $2,162.02 million a year ago. Guarantees stood at $1,238.54 million in March 2025.

The CNX Nifty ended at 24666.90, up by 88.55 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 24535.55 and 24767.55. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.96%, Shriram Finance up by 2.75%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.56%, Hindalco up by 2.49% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.22%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.82%, Cipla down by 1.66%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.10%, Tata Motors down by 1.00% and NTPC down by 0.86% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; France’s CAC fell 46.8 points or 0.59% to 7,827.03, Germany’s DAX lost 109.64 points or 0.46% to 23,528.92 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.36 points or 0.14% to 8,590.56.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday tracking Wall Street’s gains overnight after data showed consumer inflation rose less than expected in April, while investors were awaiting more clarity on ongoing trade talks. China lifted a ban on airlines taking delivery of Boeing planes after the United States and China reached a temporary truce in their trade war. The United States said it will reduce the ‘de minimis’ tariff on low-value Chinese goods, according to an executive order. Hong Kong shares gained, led by tech shares, while investors shifted their focus to corporate earnings. Although, Japanese shares declined as investors booked profits from a recent rally.