The domestic equity benchmarks closed lower on Wednesday, marking their sixth straight day of losses. Several factors contributed to the decline, including concerns over recently announced US tariffs, a weakening rupee, disappointing domestic corporate earnings, and continued FII outflows. The Nifty index closed below the 23,050 level. Real estate, energy, and auto stocks declined, while shares in public sector banks and metal companies saw gains.
The S&P BSE Sensex declined 122.52 points or 0.16% to 76,171.08. The Nifty 50 index lost 26.55 points or 0.12% to 23,045.25. In six consecutive trading sessions, the Sensex and Nifty lost 3.07% and 2.92%, respectively.
Mahindra & Mahindra (down 3.20%), ITC (down 2.14%) and Reliance Industries (down 1.53%) were major drags.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.45%, and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slumped 0.49%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1534 shares rose and 2435 shares fell. A total of 97 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.16% to 14.90.
Economy:
India's retail inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to a five-month low of 4.31% in January 2025, mainly due to lower food prices, according to official data released on Wednesday. CPI-based retail inflation was 5.22% in December, and 5.1% in January 2024.
India's industrial production growth, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) eased to 3.2% in December, down from a 6-month high of 5.2% in the previous month, according to data released by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI). The slowdown was largely due to weaker manufacturing activity, which grew 3% in December compared to 5.5% in November.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was up 1.67% to 6.811 as compared with previous close 6.806.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 86.9050, compared with its close of 86.7950 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for the 4 April 2025 settlement shed 0.65% to Rs 84,968.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.06% to 107.98.
The United States 10-year bond yield added 0.22% to 4.547.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2025 settlement lost 73 cents or 0.95% to $76.27 a barrel.
Global Markets:
US Dow Jones index futures were down 62 points, indicating a negative opening for US equities.
European indices advanced on Wednesday as global investors awaited the release of the latest US Consumer Price Index report for January, scheduled for publication on Wednesday.
Asian stocks ended higher as investors digested the impact of recent U.S. trade policy changes on regional economies.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell re-emphasized on Tuesday the central bank's focus on curbing inflation and signaled that policymakers were not in a rush to push interest rates lower.
In the U.S., the three major averages closed mixed. The S&P 500 added 0.03%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.36%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.28%.
Tesla Inc was a major weight on tech stocks, losing 6.3% during Tuesday's session as investors fretted over a slew of headwinds for the stock, including heightened competition from Chinese EV makers, as well as concerns that CEO Elon Musk's focus may be too diluted.
Investors were still digesting the impact of recently imposed higher trade tariffs, which are expected to potentially underpin inflation and weigh on economic growth in the coming months. Further trade policy changes have also been signaled.
The Fed Chair is set to testify before Congress on Wednesday, where he is likely to be questioned about the impact of these policies on the economy and inflation.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) jumped 5.64%. The company reported a standalone net profit dropped 62.04% to Rs 125.80 crore in Q3 FY25 from Rs 331.40 crore in Q3 FY24. However, revenue from operations grew 4.9% year on year to Rs 24,489.63 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2024.
Pearl Global Industries climbed 11% after the company's consolidated net profit surged 57.4% to Rs 56.30 crore on 45.3% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1,022.50 crore in Q3 December 2024 over Q3 December 2023.
Indo Count Industries hit an upper limit of 20% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 30% to Rs 75 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 58 crore in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations increased 30% YoY to Rs 1,151.55 crore in Q3 FY25.
Patel Engineering rallied 3.41% after the company's consolidated net profit rallied 14.49% to Rs 80.42 crore in Q3 FY25 as against Rs 70.24 crore posted in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations was at Rs 1,205.5 crore in Q3 FY25, marking a growth of 13.61% compared to Rs 1,061 crore recorded in Q3 FY24.
Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation's (IRCTC) added 1.10% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 13.7% to Rs 341.09 crore on a 9.79% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1,224.66 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.
MOIL advanced 2.21% after the company's standalone net profit jumped 17.7% to Rs 63.68 crore in Q3 FY25, compared to Rs 54.10 crore recorded in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations grew 19.8% YoY to Rs 366.82 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2024.
Vodafone Idea slipped 4.65% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 6,609.3 crore in Q3 FY25 as against a net loss of Rs 6,985.9 crore posted in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations rose by 4.16% to Rs 11,117.3 crore in the third quarter from Rs 10,673.1 crore recorded in the same period last year.
Gensol Engineering tumbled 14.50% after the company's consolidated net profit declined 22.11% to Rs 17.86 crore in Q3 FY25 as against Rs 22.93 crore in Q2 FY25. Revenue from operations shed 0.42% to Rs 345.34 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q2 FY25.
Lupin slipped 2%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 38.81% to Rs 858.86 crore on 10.60% increase in sales to Rs 5,618.6 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.
Tolins Tyres lost 4.60%. The company's consolidated net profit rose 1.20% to Rs 10.89 crore in Q3 FY25 as against Rs 10.76 crore posted in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations was at Rs 69.73 crore in the third quarter of FY25, down 7.63%, compared to Rs 75.49 crore in Q3 FY24.
IRCON International fell 6.04% after the company's consolidated net profit dropped 64.81% to Rs 86.10 crore in Q3 FY25, compared to Rs 244.70 crore in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations declined 10.81% to Rs 2,612.86 crore during the quarter, compared to Rs 2,929.54 crore in the same quarter last year.
NBCC (India) added 0.67%. The company reported a 25.41% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 142.43 crore in Q3 FY25 as against Rs 113.57 crore in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations rose 16.65% year on year (YoY) to Rs 2,826.95 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2024.
Gopal Snacks declined 3.82% after the company's standalone net profit slipped 70.31% to Rs 5.31 crore as against Rs 17.89 crore posted in Q3 FY24. However, revenue from operations rose 7.07% to Rs 393.57 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.
IPO Update:
The initial public offer (IPO) of Hexaware Technologies received bids for 30,78,369 shares as against 9,14,23,354 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 17:00 IST on 12 February 2024. The issue was subscribed 3%.
The issue opened for bidding on 12 February 2024 and it will close on 14 February 2024. The price band of the IPO is fixed between Rs 674 and Rs 708 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 21 equity shares and in multiples thereof.
Ajax Engineering's IPO received bids for 9,11,43,871 shares as against 1,41,49,997 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 17:00 IST on 12 February 2024. The issue was subscribed to 6.44 times.
The issue opened for bidding on 10 February 2024 and it will close on 12 February 2024. The price band of the IPO is fixed between Rs 599 and Rs 629 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 23 equity shares and in multiples thereof.
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