Key gauges extend losses amid U.S. credit rating downgrade by Moody’s

Key gauges extended their losses in late afternoon session with stocks of IT and Tech companies dragging the indices. IT sector stocks came under pressure as traders took a cautious approach after Moody's downgraded the U.S. credit rating. Meanwhile, broader markets managed to hold their grounds owed to consistent FII fund inflow pushing the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index up by 0.38% and 0.71%, respectively. On Friday, the FIIs recorded net buying equities worth Rs 8,831 crore, logging second largest single-day purchase of 2025.

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly lower and European equity markets were trading lower after China slapped duties of up to 75 percent on imports of plastics from the U.S., EU, Taiwan and Japan, signaling that trade tensions remain far from resolved. Back home, realty stocks showed significant upside with Macrotech Developers surging 1.72%, DLF gaining 2.60% and Godrej Properties rising 2.70% among others.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82033.88, down by 296.71 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 81964.57 and 82424.10. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.38%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.37%, Healthcare up by 0.68%, Auto up by 0.52%, Consumer Durables up by 0.51% and Power up by 0.40%, while IT down by 1.12%, TECK down by 0.99%, Energy down by 0.41%, Oil & Gas down by 0.27% and Capital Goods down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corporation of India up by 0.95%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.89%, NTPC up by 0.39%, Indusind Bank up by 0.32% and SBI up by 0.27%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 2.30%, Infosys down by 1.67%, TCS down by 1.28%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.13% and Reliance Industries down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its Global EV Outlook 2025, has said that India continues to be the world's largest market for electric three-wheelers for a second year in a row as sales rose nearly 20 per cent to reach about 7 lakh vehicles in 2024. It said India continues to drive most growth in the global electric three-wheeler market. Despite the global three-wheeler (3W) market shrinking 5 per cent from the previous year, electric 3W sales grew more than 10 per cent to surpass 1 million vehicles in 2024. 

According to the report, electric 3W sales represented almost one-quarter of all 3W sales, up from one-fifth in 2023. The market is highly concentrated, with China and India together accounting for more than 90 per cent of electric and conventional 3W sales. Electrification of 3Ws in China has stagnated at less than 15 per cent over the past three years. In 2023, India overtook China to become the world's largest market for electric 3Ws, and it maintained this position in 2024, with sales growing close to 20 per cent year-on-year to reach nearly 7,00,000 vehicles. This translated into a record 57 per cent electric sales share in 2024, 3 per cent up on the previous year. This growing trend looks set to continue thanks to policy support under the new PM E-DRIVE scheme, which allocated budget in 2024 to support the roll-out of more than 3,00,000 electric 3Ws for commercial use - for which the total fleet (electric and ICE) was estimated at more than 10 million vehicles in 2023.

IEA said China, India and Southeast Asia remain the world's largest 2/3W markets, accounting for around 80 per cent of 2024 global sales, with 2/3Ws serving as the primary mode of private passenger transport in these regions. India's increasingly dynamic electric 2W market hosted a total of 220 OEMs in 2024, up from 180 in 2023, although the four market leaders accounted for a combined 80 per cent of the 1.3 million electric 2Ws sold in the country in 2024 (6 per cent of the overall 2W market). While the upfront purchase price of electric 2Ws remains higher on average than that of conventional 2Ws, increasing competition is prompting OEMs to offer more affordable electric models. Policy support is also helping to bridge the affordability gap between electric and ICE 2W models, with the new PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) policy continuing financial support formerly provided under both Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME)-II and Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme measures. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24943.30, down by 76.50 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 24919.30 and 25062.95. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 3.90%, Shriram Finance up by 2.14%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.34%, Power Grid Corporation of India up by 1.05% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 2.48%, Eternal down by 2.25%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.85%, Infosys down by 1.71% and TCS down by 1.23% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 12.33 points or 0.05% to 23,332.72, KOSPI dropped 23.45 points or 0.9% to 2,603.42, Straits Times fell 23.09 points or 0.6% to 3,874.78, Nikkei 225 slipped 255.09 points or 0.68% to 37,498.63 and Taiwan Weighted lost 319.86 points or 1.49% to 21,523.83, while Jakarta Composite gained 40.71 points or 0.57% to 7,147.24 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 0.12 points or 0% to 3,367.58.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 48.05 points or 0.55% to 8,636.51, France’s CAC fell 43.6 points or 0.55% to 7,843.09 and Germany’s DAX lost 34.99 points or 0.15% to 23,732.44.