The domestic equity benchmarks continued to trade near the flatline with some negative points in afternoon trade, amid ongoing escalating geopolitical tensions between Israel and Iran. Further impacting sentiment was the US Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates, with the central bank projecting elevated inflation and slower economic growth ahead. Market direction will likely continue to be shaped by these geopolitical developments, with investors closely tracking crude oil prices and broader global events.
The Nifty traded below the 24,800 level. Barring the Nifty Auto index, all the other sectoral indices on the NSE traded in red.
At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex shed 28.93 points or 0.04% to 81,415.73. The Nifty 50 index lost 25.50 points or 0.10% to 24,786.55.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.64% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index dropped 1.87%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 884 shares rose and 2,984 shares fell. A total of 155 shares were unchanged.
Gainers & Losers:
Eicher Motors (up 1.54%), Tata Consumer Products (up 1.53%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.18%), Titan Company (up 1.07%), and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.01%) were the major Nifty50 gainers.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (down 2.67%), Adani Enterprises (down 1.79%), Bajaj Finance (down 1.63%), Coal India (down 1.49%) and Jio Financial Services (down 1.44%) were the major Nifty50 Losers.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Tata Elxsi fell 2.33%. The company announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Infineon Technologies to jointly develop application-ready EV solutions tailored to the Indian market.
Markolines Pavement Technologies gained 3.47% after the company announced that it has secured a maintenance contract worth Rs 18.88 crore from Varanasi-Aurangabad NH-2 Tollway.
AAVAS Financiers added 0.51%. The company’s board executive committee has approved raising up to Rs 200 crore through a private placement of non-convertible debentures (NCDs).
Garware Technical Fibres declined 1.93%. The company announced that it has incorporated of a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS), Garware Technical Fibres AS (GTF AS), in Norway.
Marksans Pharma slipped 2.70%. The company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Relonchem has received marketing authorization for the product Oxybutynin hydrochloride Oral Solution from UK Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (UKMHRA).
Puravankara advanced 2.05% after the company’s, wholly owned subsidiary, Starworth Infrastructure & Construction, received a letter of intent (LoI) worth Rs 272 crore from Tru Dwellings.
Global Markets:
US Dow Jones futures were down 190 points. Wall Street will be shut on Thursday for the Juneteenth holiday, with regular trading set to resume Friday.
European shares declined, while most Asian stocks traded lower on Thursday as investors digested the U.S. Federal Reserve’s widely expected decision to keep interest rates unchanged. Adding to the cautious mood, ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran continued to weigh on sentiment.
Eyes are also on the central bank decisions from Taiwan and the Philippines, due later today.
As expected, the Fed held its benchmark rate steady at 4.25%-4.5% on Wednesday, marking no change since December. Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated the committee would wait to assess the inflationary impact of President Trump’s tariff measures before considering any policy shifts.
Despite the hawkish pause, the Fed still pointed to two rate cuts by the end of the year.
Geopolitical concerns remain front and center. Investor nerves were further rattled after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed President Trump's calls for unconditional surrender. His remarks, delivered via a televised statement on Wednesday, were his first since Friday, when Israel escalated its offensive against Iran.
Back on Wall Street, US equities ended mixed on Wednesday. The Dow slipped 0.10%, the S&P 500 edged down 0.03%, while the Nasdaq bucked the trend with a 0.13% gain.