The key equity indices continued to trade with limited losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded tad below 23,650 mark. Media shares declined for the second consecutive trading session.
At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 170.18 points or 0.22% to 77,849.33. The Nifty 50 index fell 19.45 points or 0.08% to 23,649.20.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.21% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.42%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,414 shares rose and 2,340 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Media index declined 1.45% to 1,501.95. The index declined 3% for the second consecutive trading session.
Saregama India (down 2.43%), Tips Music (down 1.93%), Sun TV Network (down 1.83%), PVR Inox (down 1.75%), Den Networks (down 1.2%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 0.81%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 0.75%), Network 18 Media & Investments (down 0.68%), Dish TV India (down 0.66%) and Nazara Technologies (down 0.07%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Easy Trip Planners declined 1.92%. The company announced that it has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tourism New Zealand to strengthen travel ties and enhance access for Indian tourists to the island nation.
Dredging Corporation of India rose 1.47% after the company’s board appointed P Uma Gandhi as chief financial officer (CFO) and key managerial personnel (KMP) of the company, replacing Kiran Easankarala, effective 25 March 2025.
Valiant Communications jumped 6.38% after the company announced that it had received an order worth $811,000 (approximately Rs 7 crore) from power utilities in the USA and Europe for the supply of technical requirements.
Global Markets:
Most Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday as concerns eased over the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned trade tariffs.
Japanese shares pared early gains after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda warned of further interest rate hikes. Meanwhile, Japan’s corporate services price index—a key measure of producer inflation—came in slightly cooler than expected for February but remained sticky at 3%, data showed on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, U.S. indices advanced on Tuesday, driven primarily by gains in heavyweight technology stocks. The S&P 500 edged up 0.2% to 5,776.62, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 0.5% to 18,271.86. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched higher to 42,587.50, marking a third consecutive day of gains for all three indexes.
Tesla Inc climbed over 3% despite data showing a second straight month of declining European sales. Meanwhile, GameStop Corp surged 8% in after-hours trading following its management’s approval of a plan to invest excess cash in Bitcoin.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to a reading of 92.9 down from an upward revised 100.1 in the prior month amid ongoing concerns about a tariff-induced slowdown.
Trump’s proposed tariffs remained in focus ahead of an April 2 announcement on additional trade measures. Reports indicating that the tariffs may be less severe than initially feared helped boost Wall Street sentiment this week. However, the 47th President reiterated his stance on imposing duties on automobile imports and signaled upcoming tariffs on lumber and semiconductors. Next week, he is expected to unveil reciprocal tariffs on around 15 major U.S. trading partners, though the full scope and impact remain uncertain.