Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended in negative territory on Wednesday as traders remained cautious following intensified missile attacks between Iran and Israel. After a slightly negative start, soon indices turned green, as traders found some support from the exchange data showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 1,482.77 crore on a net basis on Tuesday. However, in late morning session, market slipped into red and remained lower till the end, as traders remained cautious ahead of the U.S. Fed's interest-rate decision.  

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

India needs to become indispensable like China: Traders took note of Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) to the Indian government, V Anantha Nageswaran, has said the country needs to prioritise areas like manufacturing, education, and employment generation to become a developed nation by 2047 and become indispensable like China. 

India's exports show steady growth from 2010 to 2023: Traders overlooked a report stating that India's export trajectory from 2010 to 2023 has shown a consistent and steady upward trend, reflecting the resilience and dynamism of its trade sector.

India's real GDP growth for FY26 may exceed 6.5%: Traders paid no head towards the leading ratings agency ICRA, in its latest outlook, has projected that India's real GDP growth for 2025-26 financial year will exceed 6.5 per cent. The agency also said the country's real Gross Value Added (GVA) growth will surpass 6.3 per cent during the same period. 

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in green on Wednesday as UK consumer price inflation softened in May. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday, after Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 637.6 billion yen in May. That exceeded expectations for a shortfall of 893.0 billion yen following the upwardly revised 115.6-billion-yen deficit in April (originally 115.8 billion yen).

The BSE Sensex ended at 81444.66, down by 138.64 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 81237.01 and 81858.97. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.34%, while Small cap index down by 0.34%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.75%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.38%, Auto up by 0.37% and Bankex up by 0.03%, while IT down by 0.76%, Utilities down by 0.75%, Power down by 0.67%, Basic Materials down by 0.66%, Metal down by 0.65% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 2.21%, Trent up by 1.86%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.24%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.12% and Asian Paints up by 0.63%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.58%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 1.55%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.34%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.19% and NTPC down by 1.00% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, pointing to India’s steady economic performance despite ongoing global challenges, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has said that India remains a rare ‘bright spot’ in a world facing growing uncertainty. He said that while conflicts and disruptions have been part of the global scene since 2022, they have become more intense and unpredictable, making the overall environment -- whether political, economic or security-related--far more difficult for growth across the world.

Talking about his views on the impact on the Indian economy due to rising global uncertainties caused by military conflicts in West Asia, between Ukraine and Russia, and also between India and Pakistan, as well as tariff wars, he said ‘you could say that downside risks are higher than the potential for upside surprises.’ He said this is not just a problem for India -- it's affecting many countries. He said to some extent, one can say that the global environment today--whether political, economic or related to security--has become considerably more complicated and more challenging for growth, not just for India but for several countries, almost for the entire world economy. But under these circumstances, he said he believes that India does indeed stand out as a relatively ‘bright spot’.

Noting that India's economy has shown resilience since the COVID-19 pandemic, achieving strong growth while also improving its fiscal health, Nageswaran said ‘we have reduced the fiscal deficit and brought down government debt levels’. He said ‘this has helped build confidence among investors, as reflected in the narrowing gap between Indian and US 10-year government bond yields-- something we've never seen at this level before.’ 

He further said that India's current growth of around 6.5 per cent is a significant achievement under the circumstances. He said given how tough the global climate has become since the 2008 financial crisis, maintaining this rate is no small feat. While the government continues efforts to raise the growth rate to 7 per cent and beyond, he cautioned that the world is no longer operating under the same favourable conditions it once did. He added that the government is doing the hard work to grow faster, but even maintaining a 6.5 per cent growth rate was a solid outcome in today's world.

The CNX Nifty ended at 24812.05, down by 41.35 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 24750.45 and 24947.55. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 4.63%, Titan Company up by 2.15%, Trent up by 1.93%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.21% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.13%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.82%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 1.57%, JSW Steel down by 1.37%, Nestle down by 1.35% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.34% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 16.56 points or 0.19% to 8,850.59 and France’s CAC rose 10.44 points or 0.14% to 7,694.17, while Germany’s DAX lost 8.96 points or 0.04% to 23,425.69.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. Slight retreat in oil rates and positive economic indicators from key Asian economies also boosted the investor sentiments. Japan's Nikkei closed near its highest finish in four months on optimism over further interest rate hikes by BoJ after softer economic data. Weaker local currency yen raised gains in export-oriented business.