Key gauges extend losses in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses in morning deals, dragged by Metal, Realty and Utilities shares and sluggish trends in Asian markets. Investors turned cautious ahead of the release of domestic GDP data. Traders overlooked Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Amardeep Singh Bhatia highlighted that the foreign direct investments (FDI) in the country rose to a three-year high of $81 billion in 2024-25 and are expected to grow further. Traders also paid no heed towards Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that negotiations with the US for a bilateral trade agreement are well on track. The negotiations for the trade agreement with the European Union (EU) are also progressing at a faster pace. On the global front, Asian markets are trading lower as investors watch the judicial developments surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump's ‘reciprocal’ tariffs and weigh the outlook for Fed policy.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81325.07, down by 307.95 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 81306.02 and 81698.21. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.58%, while Small cap index was down by 0.21%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.81%, Industrials up by 0.28% and Power up by 0.07%, while Metal down by 1.63%, Realty down by 1.32%, Utilities down by 1.16%, Basic Materials down by 1.03% and IT down by 1.00% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 1.97%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.30%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.28%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.08% and Reliance Industries up by 0.01%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.63%, Tata Motors down by 1.59%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.52%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.49% and NTPC down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran has said ongoing tariff war triggered by reciprocal tariff by the Trump Administration provides an opportunity for India in some sectors. He said India actually has a few silver linings which include low energy prices at the moment. He said ‘regardless of how the tariff numbers will play out after 90-day expiration from the Liberation Day on April 2, or the 90 days given to China from May 12, etc, there will be some sectors where India did not enjoy an advantage before, it may enjoy an advantage later. That's also an opportunity from tariff perspective.’

The US on April 2 imposed an additional 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods, but later suspended it for 90 days till July 9. However, Indian goods still attract the 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed by America. Meanwhile, both India and the US are in discussions to close a bilateral trade agreement. Both sides are looking at an interim trade deal before the first tranche of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) as the US' 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on India is suspended till July 9 this year.

In the interim trade deal, New Delhi is pushing for full exemption from the 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on domestic goods. Both countries have fixed a deadline to conclude the first phase of the proposed bilateral trade agreement by the fall (September-October) of this year. The US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at $131.84 billion. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in the country's total merchandise trade. With America, India had a trade surplus (the difference between imports and exports) of $41.18 billion in goods in 2024-25. It was $35.32 billion in 2023-24, $27.7 billion in 2022-23, $32.85 billion in 2021-22 and $22.73 billion in 2020-21. The US has raised concerns over this widening trade deficit.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24741.10, down by 92.50 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 24721.80 and 24863.95. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eternal up by 2.08%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.37%, Apollo Hospital up by 0.12%, HDFC Bank up by 0.11% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.11%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 2.53%, Hindalco down by 2.14%, Shriram Finance down by 1.84%, Infosys down by 1.61% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 438.18 points or 1.14% to 37,994.80, Hang Seng declined 348.98 points or 1.5% to 23,224.40, KOSPI dropped 22.80 points or 0.84% to 2,697.84, Straits Times fell 1.24 points or 0.03% to 3,915.60 and Shanghai Composite weakened 10.38 points or 0.31% to 3,353.07.