The headline equity benchmarks continued to trade near the flat line with some negative bias in afternoon trade amid mixed global cues. The Nifty traded below the 22,550 mark. Trading was volatile due to the monthly Nifty50 F&O series expiry today.
Media, realty and auto shares tumbled while financial services, bank and private bank stocks edged higher.
Shares of NBFCs and the banking sector witnessed strong buying demand following the central bank’s decision to reduce the risk weight on bank loans to NBFCs from 125% to 100%. Set to take effect on 1 April this move effectively reverses the tightening measure introduced in November 2023, which had increased capital requirements for banks extending credit to NBFCs. The easing of this policy is seen as a positive catalyst for both sectors, potentially enhancing liquidity flow and reducing the capital burden on lenders.
At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, shed 5.56 points or 0.01% to 74,607.48. The Nifty 50 index lost 13.90 points or 0.06% to 22,533.65.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.10%, and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 2.20%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 889 shares rose and 2,972 shares fell. A total of 133 shares were unchanged.
Gainers & Losers:
Shriram Finance (up 5.25%), Bajaj Finance up (2.75%), Bajaj Finserv (up 2.64%), IndusInd Bank (up 1.72%) and Axis Bank (up 1.24%) were the major Nifty gainers.
UltraTech Cement (down 4.87%), Trent (down 2.41%), Hero MotoCorp (down 2.32%), Grasim Industries (down 2.07%) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 1.89%) were the major Nifty losers.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Tata Power Company slipped 2.35%. The company announced that it has signed a landmark MoU with the Assam Government to develop and tie up up to 5000 MW of renewable and clean energy, with Rs 30,000 crore investments, at the Advantage Assam 2.0 event.
Mahindra EPC Irrigation declined 1.39%. The company announced that it has received an order worth Rs 11.79 crore from the Office of the Assistant Engineer for the supply of microirrigation systems under a community microirrigation project.
Cupid shed 0.47%. The company announced that it has received purchase orders from the Medical Stores Department, Government of Tanzania, for the supply of male condoms worth Rs 42 crore.
Jupiter Wagons lost 2.97%. The company announced that its manufacturing arm, Jupiter Tatravagonka Railwheel Factory, received a contract worth Rs 255 crore from Braithwait & Co. for the supply of 9,140 wheelsets of 840 mm diameter for 25-ton axle load applications.
Mastek fell 1.44%. The company has announced that it has secured multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts with an estimated value of $85 million from a UK Public Service Department.
Global Markets:
European stocks fell on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on imports from the European Union.
Most Asian shares declined, influenced by a combination of Nvidia's earnings results and renewed US trade tariff concerns.
Nvidia, a key player in the AI sector, reported strong quarterly figures, forecasting first-quarter revenue of $43 billion, exceeding expectations of $42.05 billion. However, a projected softer-than-expected gross margin, attributed to the Blackwell production ramp-up, led to a volatile after-hours trading session, with the stock fluctuating between gains and losses. This muted investor response followed a period of consistently high expectations.
Adding to market unease, President Donald Trump announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on the European Union and reiterated that tariffs on Mexico and Canada would take effect on April 2. Contradictory statements within his announcement created confusion and uncertainty among investors.
These developments followed a flat close for U.S. stocks on Wednesday, which had already seen four consecutive days of losses. Concerns about a potential U.S. economic slowdown, reflected in weak consumer sentiment data, further contributed to the negative market sentiment.
Specifically, the S&P 500 closed unchanged at 5,956.18 points, the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.3% to 19,075.26 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 43,433.12 points.
Investors are now awaiting key economic data, including fourth-quarter gross domestic product figures due Thursday and the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, scheduled for Friday.