In the week ended on Friday, 28 February 2025, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 2,243.55 points or 2.97% to settle at 73,198.10. The Nifty 50 index dropped 671.20 points or 2.94% to settle at 22,124.70. The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 4.41% to close at 38,592.02. The BSE Small-Cap index slumped 6.04% to end at 43,082.90.

Weekly Index Movement:

Domestic equity benchmarks continued their losing streak for the fifth straight day on Monday. The S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 856.65 points or 1.14% to 74,454.41. The Nifty 50 index dropped 242.55 points or 1.06% to 22,553.35.

The domestic equity benchmarks closed near flat line on Tuesday. The S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 147.71 points or 0.20% to 74,602.12. The Nifty 50 index fell 5.80 points or 0.03% to 22,547.55.

The stock market had remained closed on Wednesday, 26th February 2025, in observance of Mahashivratri.

The domestic benchmark indices witnessed volatile trading on Thursday. The S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 10.31 points or 0.01% to 74,612.43. The Nifty 50 index shed 2.50 points or 0.01% to 22,545.05.

The key benchmark indices ended with major losses on Friday. The S&P BSE Sensex, tanked 1414.33 points or 1.90% to 73,198.10. The Nifty 50 index declined 420.35 points or 1.86% to 22,124.70.

SEBI Leadership Change:

Tuhin Kanta Pandey has been appointed as the 11th chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a three-year term. The current Finance Secretary will replace Madhabi Puri Buch, who will complete her tenure as SEBI's first woman chairperson on Friday, February 28, 2025.

Economy:

India's foreign exchange reserves snapped a three-week gaining streak to drop to $635.72 billion as of February 14, coming off over one-month highs, data released by the central bank on Friday showed.

Foreign currency assets, the largest component of forex reserves, decreased by $4.515 billion to $539.591 billion. Gold reserves, however, saw a rise of $1.942 billion, reaching $74.15 billion during the week.

Meanwhile, special drawing rights (SDRs) increased by $19 million to $17.897 billion, and India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) edged up by $14 million to $4.083 billion.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reported that currency in circulation edged up 0.3% on the week to stand at Rs 36.51 lakh crore as on February 21, 2025. The central bank stated further that the overall reserve money fell by 1.1% on the week to Rs 47.12 lakh crore. Currency in circulation rose 5.6% on a year ago basis compared to 3.70% rise at the same time last year. In the current fiscal, the currency in circulation moved up 4% so far while the reserve money has edged up by 1.7%.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bajaj Auto tumbled 7.02%. The company said its board has approved an investment of up to Euro 150 million (Rs 1,364) crore in its wholly-owned arm, Bajaj Auto International Holdings BV, Netherlands, to fund the needs of the latter towards investment opportunities.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals fell 1.65%. The company reached a settlement agreement with three plaintiffs, Humana Inc., Centene Corporation, and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., for a total of $7 million. These lawsuits were related to allegations of anticompetitive agreements concerning generic Zetia, a cholesterol-lowering drug, and Vytorin, a combination drug.

Tata Investment Corporation jumped 2.45%. The company reported that Tata Capital's IPO plans have been approved. According to media reports, Tata Capital's board approved its IPO on Tuesday. The offering will include 23 crore new shares and an offer for sale (OFS) from existing shareholders.

Maruti Suzuki India declined 3%. The company said that it has commissioned the Phase-I of the manufacturing facility with a capacity of 250,000 units per annum at Kharkhoda, Haryana. Accordingly, the company has commenced the commercial production of vehicles from the said facility w.e.f. 25th February 2025.

Tata Power Company slipped 5.12%. 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.

UltraTech Cement dropped 9.35%. The company announced its plan to enter the wires and cables segment, investing approximately Rs 1,800 crore over the next two years.

The company's board approved the venture, aligning with its strategy to become a comprehensive building solutions provider. A new plant, expected to be commissioned near Bharuch, Gujarat, by December 2026, will serve the growing demand across residential, commercial, infrastructure, and industrial sectors.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) tumbled 7.97%. The company announced that it had extended its partnership with DNB Bank ASA for an additional five years to power next-generation banking innovation.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) dropped 10.40%. The company has announced that it has received a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) from Central Railway for a project valued at Rs 135.66 crore.

Global Markets:

French inflation cooled to 0.8% in February, according to preliminary figures from the country's statistics agency, Insee. German retail sales rose 0.2% in real terms between December and January, preliminary figures showed on Friday

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.

US President Donald Trump announced an additional 10% tax on Chinese imports, compounding the 10% tariff imposed earlier this month.

Furthermore, Trump also reaffirmed plans to implement a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, set to take effect on March 4.

In Japan, factory output dipped 1.1% in January from the previous month, while retail sales climbed 3.9% year-over-year. Meanwhile, core consumer prices in Tokyo rose 2.2% in February.

Germany's Federal Statistical Office confirmed that the country’s economy contracted by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of 2024, matching the preliminary reading from the end of January.

The US economy expanded at a 2.3% annualized rate in Q4 2024, unchanged from initial estimates but slower than Q3's 3.1% growth. For the full year, GDP grew 2.8%, slightly below 2023's 2.9%.

Meanwhile, jobless claims surged unexpectedly, with 242,000 new applications filed last week, up 22,000 from the previous period.

On a brighter note, new orders for US-manufactured capital goods jumped 0.8% in January, following a downwardly revised 0.2% rise in December.

S&P Global's preliminary composite purchasing managers' index for the US declined to 50.4 in February from 52.7 in January, with the services PMI falling to 49.7 from 52.9. The University of Michigan's sentiment index showed US consumer sentiment weakened in February, registering 64.7, down from 71.1.