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Informist, Monday, Mar. 3, 2025

By Akshita Kumar

MUMBAI – The benchmark indices ended slightly lower on Monday, with the Nifty 50 index extending its losing streak to nine sessions. Gains in most information technology stocks were offset by the sharp decline in index-heavyweight Reliance Industries and select bank and financial services stocks.

The domestic indices opened the day higher on positive cues from US markets, but soon fell. The Nifty 50 even tested the key support of 22000 points. The 50-stock index hit an intraday low of 22004.70 points before recovering partially to close the session at 22119.30 points, down 5.40 points. The BSE Sensex ended at 73085.94 points, down 112.16 points or 0.2%.

Uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump's tariffs are impacting the domestic market, analysts said. The broader market indices ended mixed after being in the red for most of the session. Mid-cap indices ended up 0.1-0.5%. The Nifty Smallcap 50 ended up 0.2%, while the Smallcap 100 and Smallcap 250 ended down 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively.

Reliance Industries ended down 2.4% and was the among the worst hit in the Nifty 50 index. A few media reports said that the company's subsidiary, Reliance New Energy, may face a penalty of INR 1.25 billion for failing to set up a battery cell plant under the government's production-linked incentive scheme.

Shares of HDFC Bank, another index-heavyweight, ended down 1.8%, snapping a three-session winning streak during which it gained 3.3%. Shares of two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto, which rose 1.2% early in the trade, ended down 2.4%, extending its fall for the sixth straight session. The company's total vehicle sales in February rose 2% on year to 352,071 units. Its total domestic sales fell 11% on year to 183,415 units and total exports grew 21% to 168,656 in February, the company said in an exchange filing Monday.

Shares of Coal India closed 2.4% lower after the company's production for February fell slightly on year to 74.1 million tonnes. The company's offtake was down nearly 5% on year to 62.1 million tonnes, according to provisional figures released by the company on Monday before market opened for trading. 

Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore ended down nearly 8% and was among the worst hit in the Nifty 200 index. Shares of the Multi Commodity Exchange of India, the BSE, and Angel One ended down 5.5%, 6%, 8.8%, respectively. All the three fell for the sixth straight session.

Shares of cement companies such as Grasim Industries and UltraTech Cement ended higher by 3.1% and 2.1%, respectively. Pan-India, average price of cement rose further by INR 3 per 50-kilogram bag on month, after rising by nearly INR 9 per bag since December to INR 374 per bag in February, brokerage JM Financial said in a research report. This is the third consecutive month of gradual price increase for the cement industry. The brokerage said cement companies are likely to attempt price hikes of INR 10-INR 20 per bag in March.

Shares of Bharat Electronics closed 4.5% higher after falling nearly 1% intraday. Shares of Eicher Motors ended 2.8% higher, snapping a three-day losing streak during which they lost 4.7%. The company's motorcycle sales under the Royal Enfield brand grew year-on-year for the sixth consecutive month in February.

The company's motorcycle sales, including domestic and exports, increased 19% on year to 90,670 units in February. This was better than estimates by brokerages Nomura, Anand Rathi, and Nirmal Bang, who predicted the rise at 8-17%.

The Nifty Oil and Gas index ended down 0.8%, extending its losses for the sixth straight session. Nifty Bank and Nifty Private Bank indices ended down 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively. Nifty Realty and Nifty Metal indices ended up 1.3% and 1.2%, and were the best performing sectoral indices.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 32 rose and 18 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 18 rose and 12 fell

* On the NSE, 879 stocks rose, 2,071 fell, and 76 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,235 stocks rose, 2,852 fell, and 147 were unchanged

* Nifty Media: down 1.1%; Nifty Oil & Gas: down 0.8%; Nifty Realty: up 1.3%

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 73085.94, down 112.16 points or 0.2%      Nifty 50: 22119.30, down 5.40 points 

End

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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