The frontline indices continued to trade with modest gains in afternoon trade, supported by continuous foreign fund inflows and buying in blue-chip stocks, aiding the recovery in equities. The Nifty traded above the 23,550 mark. PSU bank and media and bank shares advanced while auto, pharma and healthcare stocks declined. The Nifty monthly futures and options (F&O) contracts are set to expire today.
At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rallied 330.34 points or 0.43% to 77,618.53. The Nifty 50 index added 102.20 points or 0.44% to 23,589.05.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.01% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.50%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,680 shares rose and 2,238 shares fell. A total of 119 shares were unchanged.
Gainers & Losers:
Hero MotoCorp (up 3.07%), Bajaj Finserv (up 2.31%), HDFC Life Insurance Company (up 2.21%), Larsen & Toubro (up 1.81%) and HDFC Bank (up 1.74%) were the major Nifty gainers.
Tata Motors (down 5.47%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.89%), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.87%), HCL Technologies (down 0.80%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.56%) were the major Nifty losers.
Tata Motors slumped 5.47% after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on imported cars and light trucks, a move aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing.
Stocks in Spotlight:
TVS Motor Company rose 0.08%. The company said that its wholly owned subsidiary, TVS Motor (Singapore) has acquired an additional 30% stake in EBCO from its existing shareholder for a consideration of GBP 60,000.
Wipro added 1.52% after the company announced that it has won a £500 million, 10-year strategic deal with Phoenix Group, the UK's largest long-term savings and retirement business.
Sterlite Technologies advanced 2.54% after the firm announced its successful partnership with Wyre for supporting the development of its expansive multi-gigabit Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network.
SpiceJet added 0.71%. The company announced that it has successfully settled its dispute with Willis Lease Finance Corporation, a leading global aircraft engine lessor, resulting in a substantial saving for the airline.
Bharat Forge shed 0.95%. The company inked the largest domestic contract with Ministry of Defence for the supply of 184 indigenously developed Artillery System (ATAGS).
Sunteck Realty gained 2.03% after the company announced that its board has approved an investment of approximately $10 million to $20 million in its wholly owned subsidiary (WOS), Sunteck Lifestyle International (SLIPL).
Sundaram-Clayton added 2.09% after the company entered into a business transfer agreement with Sandhar Ascast (SAPL) for the sale of its aluminum die-casting business at the Hosur plant for a total consideration of Rs 163 crore.
Quadrant Future Tek rose 0.77%. The company announced that it has received a letter of acceptance (LOA) worth Rs 155.93 crore from RailTel Corporation of India for the supply of Kavach systems at East Central Railway.
Global Markets:
European shares declined on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose significantly higher tariffs on the European Union (EU) and Canada if they collaborate to counter U.S. trade tariffs. Investors also reacted to new automotive tariffs announced by President Trump.
Most Asian stocks advanced as investors digested U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to impose 25% tariffs on auto imports.
Japanese automaker stocks took a sharp hit after Trump confirmed that the tariffs-targeting imported cars and light trucks- will take effect on April 2. The move could have significant repercussions for Japanese manufacturers, who rely heavily on the U.S. market.
US market closed lower on Wednesday, with investors fretting over the economic impact of the tariffs. Tech stocks also faced selling pressure amid mounting concerns about an oversupply of AI data centers and computing capacity.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.31%, the S&P 500 lost 1.12%, and the NASDAQ Composite plunged 2.04%.
AI giant NVIDIA dropped 1.2% after already tumbling 5.7% during Wednesday's session. Server makers Broadcom, Dell Technologies, and Super Micro Computer also declined in after-hours trading. Meanwhile, GameStop surged 11% after its management approved a plan to invest excess cash in Bitcoin.