Sensex, Nifty make positive start as US court blocks Trump's tariffs

Indian equity benchmarks made a positive start on Thursday tracking broadly firm cues from Asian counterparts after a U.S. federal court blocked US President Donald Trump's attempt to impose sweeping reciprocal tariffs against its global trading partners under emergency powers, saying he exceeded his authority. Soon, Sensex and Nifty trimmed some of their opening gains but continued their trade in green with marginal gains in early deals. Some cautiousness came as India's industrial production growth slowed to 2.7% in April 2025 due to poor performance of manufacturing, mining and power sectors. Traders avoided to take any long positions ahead of the monthly expiry of the May series Futures & Options (F&O) contracts later in the day.

On the sectoral front, power stocks are in focus as ICRA said the demand for power in the country is expected to grow in the range of 6-6.5 per cent over the next five years. This growth will be attributed to a rise in adoption of electric vehicles and green hydrogen segments along with strengthening of data centre capacity. In stock specific development, Avanti Feeds jumped after reporting a strong March quarter, with consolidated net profit rising 39.6% year-on-year to Rs 157 crore from Rs 112.6 crore in Q4 FY24.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81480.41, up by 168.09 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 81440.83 and 81816.89. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.07%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.84%, TECK up by 0.66%, Metal up by 0.64%, Auto up by 0.34% and Basic Materials up by 0.33%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.27%, Realty down by 0.19%, Telecom down by 0.07%, PSU down by 0.07% and Energy down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Trent up by 1.86%, Infosys up by 1.23%, Eternal up by 0.89%, Sun Pharma up by 0.88% and Tata Motors up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 0.91%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.70%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.38%, SBI down by 0.19% and Asian Paints down by 0.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare has asked micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to comply with voluntary as well as mandatory quality standards while manufacturing products and urged them to be more proactive in sharing problems and seeking solutions. She noted that India is poised to become the third largest economy in the world, and the MSMEs will have a major role to play in achieving this.

She said MSMEs need to be more proactive in sharing their problems and asked the industry to demand new standards as well as participate in formulation of these quality norms. She highlighted that the government in the past few years have taken various steps to ensure that people get quality products. Recently, Rs 78 crore has been approved to strengthen existing testing labs and set up new ones.

She stated ‘Ultimately, any nation which grows has to ensure credibility of its goods and services. There cannot be any abstinence, or there cannot be any free passes to the concern of quality.’ Further, she pointed out that there is hardly any participation from the industry whenever standards are being formulated.

She stated ‘academicians, the domain expert…are actually bringing standards, whereas standards should have been for the industry and by the industry.’ She asked the industry to demand time-bound formulation of standards and assured that the government and its departments would do that. Besides, she said the industry players can approach the ministry for support during any difficulties, whether it is the formulation of standards or setting up of a testing facility. She added ‘We will set it up. We do not want you to suffer.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24795.60, up by 43.15 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 24779.70 and 24889.70. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Trent up by 1.75%, JSW Steel up by 1.48%, Infosys up by 1.40%, Eternal up by 1.12% and Sun Pharma up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.09%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.82%, Shriram Finance down by 0.77%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.77% and JIO Financial Services down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 585.27 points or 1.55% to 38,307.67, Hang Seng advanced 157.69 points or 0.68% to 23,416.00, Taiwan Weighted added 108.41 points or 0.51% to 21,466.13, KOSPI increased 47.60 points or 1.78% to 2,717.75 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 24.04 points or 0.71% to 3,363.97, while Straits Times fell 10.46 points or 0.27% to 3,901.46.