The domestic equity indices ended slightly above the flat line on Friday. The Nifty settled above the 24,300 level. Shares in the oil & gas, media, and IT sectors advanced, while those consumer durables, metal and pharma sectors declined.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 259.75 points or 0.32% to 80,501.99. The Nifty 50 index rose 12.50 points or 0.05% to 24,346.70.
After opening higher, the key equity benchmarks hit the day's high in morning trade. However, they failed to hold on to those gains and steep profit booking emerged. As their downward trajectory continued, the equity indices hit the day's low in afternoon trade. The key barometers continued to witness price swings for the remainder of the session and ended the day with a mild positive bias.
The domestic indices ended on a flat note for a third consecutive session today. This is on account of the caution that prevailed among investors pertaining to the Trump’s tariff moves, fears of a US recession, and volatility in crude oil prices. Sustained buying from the FIIs has offered limited positive support to the prevailing market sentiment.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.41% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.07%. The market breadth was negative.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.19% to 18.26.
Economy:
India's Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection spiked 12.6% Y-o-Y to an all-time high of about Rs 2.37 lakh crore in April. The GST collection was Rs 2.10 lakh crore in April 2024 -- the second highest collection ever since the roll-out of the indirect tax regime on July 1, 2017. In March 2025, the collection was Rs 1.96 lakh crore, thereby leading to an around 20% surge in tax collection on a monthly basis.
The HSBC India Manufacturing PMI edged up to 58.2 in April 2025 from 58.1 in March, slightly below the flash estimate of 58.4, marking the strongest sector improvement in ten months.
Output grew at the fastest pace since June 2024, driven by robust domestic and foreign demand. Similarly, international orders recorded their second-steepest rise since March 2011, boosting sales and supporting solid job creation.
In terms of prices, output charges rose at the fastest rate since October 2013, even as input cost inflation remained moderate, led by higher expenses in building, labor, and raw materials. Lastly, business confidence stayed strong, underpinned by demand strength, marketing efforts, and new client inquiries.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper grew 1.56% to 6.457 as compared with the previous close of 6.350.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 84.4725 compared with its close of 84.5400 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for the 5 June 2025 settlement rose 0.93% to Rs 93,217.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, shed 0.34% to 99.85.
The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.57% to 4.207.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for July 2025 settlement advanced fell 30 cents or 0.48% to $61.83 a barrel.
Global Markets:
The US Dow Jones index futures were currently up by 215 points, signaling a positive opening for US stocks today.
European shares advanced on Friday while their Asian counterparts ended in the green after China said that it was evaluating possible trade talks with the U.S.
Markets in China are closed today for the Labor Day public holiday.
China said it is evaluating U.S. overtures to initiate trade negotiations, potentially paving the way for the world’s two largest economies to start talks to resolve a trade war that has rumbled financial markets and cast a pall on global economic activity.
While assessing the possibility of starting any negotiations, Chinese authorities reiterated Beijing’s request for the U.S. to remove all unilateral tariffs. Failure to do so would indicate an outright lack of sincerity from Washington and further compromise mutual trust, a media report said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has slapped tariffs of 145% on imported Chinese goods this year, prompting China to impose retaliatory levies of 125%. So far, both sides have sought to blunt the economic impact of tariffs by granting exemptions on certain critical products.
Meanwhile, the Euro zone inflation was unchanged at 2.2% in April, flash data from statistics agency Eurostat showed.
Economists had been expecting the reading to come in at 2.1% in April compared to March’s 2.2%, as inflation has been easing back towards the European Central Bank’s 2% target.
Data released earlier this week indicated that the euro zone economy could be picking up steam, with the bloc’s gross domestic product rising 0.4% in the first quarter of 2025, according to a preliminary reading. This was higher than the forecast of 0.2%.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 83.60 points, or 0.21%, to close at 40,752.96. The S&P 500 gained 0.63% to end at 5,604.14, still slightly below its levels from before President Donald Trump’s "Liberation Day” tariffs announcement in early April. The Nasdaq Composite increased 1.52% to close at 17,710.74 and wipe out the decline it experienced since April 2.
Stocks on Wall Street received a boost of optimism after Meta Platforms and Microsoft reported strong quarterly results The earnings of the two big tech stocks eased concerns of a slowdown in artificial intelligence-powered developments amid the current macroeconomic uncertainty.
Auto Sales Impact :
Maruti Suzuki India rose 1.21% after the company’s total sales increased 6.96% to 1,79,791 units in April 2025 as against 1,68,089 units sold in April 2024.
TVS Motor Company rose 1.39% after the company’s total sales jumped 16% to 443,896 units in April 2025 as against 383,615 units in April 2024.
Escorts Kubota shed 1.35% after the tractor manufacturer announced that its agri-machinery business division sales fell 1.2% to 8,729 units in April 2025 as against 8,839 units sold in April 2024.
Bajaj Auto declined 2.44% after the company has recorded total sales of 3,65,810 units in April 2025, which is lower by 6% as compared with the sales volume of 3,88,256 units sold in April 2024.
Hero MotoCorp fell 2.42% after the company said that it had dispatched 305,406 motorcycles and scooters units in April 2025, which is lower by 43% as compared with the dispatch figure of 533,585 units recorded in April 2024.
Eicher Motors declined 2.42%. The company’s unlisted subsidiary, VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), reported a 27.3% year-on-year growth in commercial vehicle (CV) sales to 6,846 units in April 2025.
SML Isuzu added 1.34% after the company said that it has sold 1,512 units in April 2025, registering a growth of 43.2% from 1,056 units sold in the same period last year.
VST Tillers Tractors jumped 2.94% after the company’s total sales surged 94.79% to 2,320 units in April 2025 from 1,191 units sold in April 2024.
Steel Strips Wheels (SSWL) jumped 4.97% after the company reported a net turnover of Rs 424.11 crore for April 2025, registering a 25.39% YoY growth compared to Rs 338.22 crore posted in April 2024.
Tata Motors added 1.20%. The company’s total sales stood at 72,753 units in April 2025, registering a decrease of 6.15% as compared with 77,521 units in April 2024.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) rallied 4.11% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 50.02% to Rs 3,023 crore in Q4 FY25 as compared with Rs 2,015 crore in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations climbed 23.08% to Rs 8488.44 crore during the quarter ended 31st March 2025 as compared with Rs 6896.50 crore in the quarter ended 31st March 2024.
Adani Enterprises shed 0.20%. The company’s consolidated net profit spiked 753.32% to Rs 3,844.91 crore in Q4 FY25 as against Rs 450.58 crore reported in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations declined 7.58% to Rs 26,965.86 crore in Q4 FY25 from Rs 29,180.02 crore recorded in the same period a year ago.
Eternal added 0.75%. The company has reported 77.7% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 39 crore despite a 69.8% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 5,833 crore in Q4 FY25 as compared with Q4 FY24.
Madhav Infra Projects hit an upper circuit of 20% after the company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 12.07 crore in Q4 FY25, steeply higher than Rs 2.63 crore for Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations surged 104.49% year on year to Rs 308.31 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2025.
Newgen Software Technologies added 1.82% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 21.73% to Rs 108.34 crore on a 12.8% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 429.89 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q3 FY25.