Indices snap 2-day gains on Friday

Halting a two-day winning streak, Indian equity benchmarks traded lackluster throughout the day and finally ended marginally lower amid emergence of profit-taking after a sharp rally in the previous trading session. Markets were dragged lower due to selling in TECK, IT and Healthcare stocks and a largely weak trend in Asian markets.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

UN revises down India's GDP forecast to 6.3% for 2025: The United Nations (UN) has revised India's economic growth forecast for 2025, down to 6.3 per cent, and despite a projected moderation, the country remains one of the fastest-growing large economies, supported by resilient consumption and government spending.

Strong FII inflows: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers, investing Rs 5,392.94 crore in Indian equities on Thursday, according to exchange data. 

India-US trade agreement talks progressing well: Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement between India and the US are progressing well. Barthwal said that an Indian team will be going to Washington for further discussions.

India's merchandise exports grow by 9% in April 2025: India's merchandise exports rose by 9.03 per cent to $38.49 billion in April 2025 as compared to $35.30 billion in same month last year, the highest in six months, driven by healthy growth in sectors such as electronics and engineering goods.

Global front: European markets were trading higher as investors continued to cheer the recent tariff agreement between U.S. and China, and news about a positive progress in talks between the EU bloc and U.S. for lowering the tariffs from earlier proposed levels. Asian markets ended mixed on Friday as Japanese GDP data disappointed and investors awaited clarity on how the global economy would be impacted by U.S. tariffs on its trading partners. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 200.15 points or 0.24% to 82,330.59 and the CNX Nifty was down by 42.30 points or 0.17% to 25,019.80.    

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 82,514.81 and 82,146.95 respectively. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. 

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.85%, while Small cap index was up by 1.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.80%, Realty up by 1.72%, Capital Goods up by 1.63%, PSU up by 1.49% and Utilities up by 1.44%, while TECK down by 1.29%, IT down by 0.71%, Healthcare down by 0.29%, Metal down by 0.20% and Bankex down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 1.38%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.10%, Asian Paints up by 0.98%, ITC up by 0.73% and Nestle up by 0.52%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.81%, HCL Technologies down by 2.14%, SBI down by 1.96%, Infosys down by 1.46% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Export Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) has said that India's overall merchandise exports are likely to grow 3 per cent to $113.7 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal year (Q1FY26). It said the non-oil exports are forecast to grow 10.9 per cent to $99.2 billion in Q1FY26. However, it said the outlook is subject to risks of global tariffs and trade policy uncertainty, rising geo-economic fragmentation and persisting geo-political tensions. 

The bank said positive growth in India's exports could be as a result of expected revival in manufacturing activity, conclusion of export orders, favourable prospects of current trade negotiations, and expected continued accommodative stance in India. It noted that the growth in total merchandise exports, non-oil exports, and non-oil and non-gems and jewellery exports, are likely to continue in second quarter of the current financial year.

The bank said it has developed an in-house model to generate an export leading index for India to track and forecast the movement in India's exports on a quarterly basis. The Export Leading Index (ELI) gauges the outlook for the country's exports and is essentially developed as a leading indicator to forecast growth in total merchandise and non-oil exports of the country, on a quarterly basis, based on several external and domestic factors that could impact exports of the country.  

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 25,070.00 and 24,953.05. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 3.82%, Tata Consumer Product up by 1.99%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.98%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.23% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.83%, HCL Technologies down by 2.06%, Infosys down by 1.46%, JSW Steel down by 1.35% and Shriram Finance down by 1.26% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 48.26 points or 0.56% to 8,682.01, France’s CAC rose 53.4 points or 0.68% to 7,906.87 and Germany’s DAX gained 144.81 points or 0.61% to 23,840.40.

Asian markets ended mixed on Friday as investors awaited clarity on how the global economy would be impacted by US tariffs on its trading partners. Meanwhile, downside surprises on US economic data this week sparked speculation that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice this year to prevent a recession. Reports showed that the US producer price index unexpectedly fell by 0.5% in April and missed the 0.2% increase forecast, while US retail sales growth slowed in April as consumers pulled back on spending amid tariff concerns. Chinese and Hong Kong shares dropped as market sentiment came under pressure from renewed US-China tech tensions and a disappointing earnings report from Alibaba. Japanese shares ended flat after data showed Japan's economy contracted an annualized 0.7% in the first quarter of 2025, marking the first contraction in four quarters.