Key gauges trade choppy in late afternoon session

Key gauges were trading choppy in late afternoon trade with considerable weakness in banking stocks weighing on the benchmarks. However, easing inflation data helped the broader markets to hold their neck in green and add more gains. 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. Besides, India's retail inflation eased to 3.16 per cent in the month of April 2025. There was decline of 18 basis points in headline inflation of April 2025 in comparison to March 2025.

On the global front, Asian equity markets are trading mostly in green as investors digested softer-than-expected inflation data from the U.S. and awaited more clarity on ongoing trade talks. European equity markets were trading lower after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed the possibility of a quick agreement with the European Union, saying the bloc suffers from a collective action problem that's hampering trade negotiations.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81117.73, down by 30.49 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 80910.03 and 81691.87. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged 0.96%, while Small cap index was up by 1.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.35%, Industrials up by 1.50%, Realty up by 1.46%, Basic Materials up by 1.29% and Capital Goods up by 1.28%, while Bankex down by 0.56%, Utilities down by 0.12%, FMCG down by 0.08%, Consumer Durables down by 0.05% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.91%, Eternal up by 1.77%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.61%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.20% and Infosys up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.78%, Tata Motors down by 1.63%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.29%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.11% and HDFC Bank down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) in India eased to 0.85% in April 2025 as against 2.05% in March 2025. WPI-based inflation was 1.19% in April last year. The Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, decreased by 0.11% to 184.4 (provisional) in April, 2025 from 184.6 (provisional) for the month of March, 2025. Price of crude petroleum & natural gas (-5.31%) and non-food articles (-1.78%) decreased in April, 2025 as compared to March, 2025. The price of minerals (7.81%) and food articles (0.36%) increased in April, 2025 as compared to March, 2025.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, decreased by 2.82% to 148.1 (provisional) in April, 2025 from 152.4 (provisional) for the month of March, 2025. Price of mineral oils (-3.95%) and electricity (-1.38%) decreased in April, 2025 as compared to March, 2025. The price of coal (0.22%) increased in April, 2025 as compared to March, 2025.

Further, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by 0.35% to 144.9 (Provisional) in April, 2025 from 144.4 (Provisional) for the month of March, 2025. Meanwhile, for the month of February, 2025, the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 154.9 and 2.45% respectively.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24586.15, up by 7.80 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 24535.55 and 24767.55. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.89%, Shriram Finance up by 2.75%, Hindalco up by 2.66%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.28% and Eternal up by 1.75%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.83%, Asian Paints down by 1.79%, Tata Motors down by 1.47%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.32% and Power Grid Corporation down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 532.38 points or 2.25% to 23,640.65, Jakarta Composite gained 153.85 points or 2.25% to 6,986.65, KOSPI increased 32.15 points or 1.22% to 2,640.57, Taiwan Weighted added 452.73 points or 2.08% to 21,782.87 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 29.08 points or 0.85% to 3,403.95, while Nikkei 225 slipped 55.13 points or 0.14% to 38,128.13 and Straits Times fell 12.95 points or 0.33% to 3,868.10.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 4.78 points or 0.06% to 8,598.14, France’s CAC fell 47.96 points or 0.61% to 7,825.87 and Germany’s DAX lost 54.79 points or 0.23% to 23,583.77.