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Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 4, 2025

By Akshita Kumar

MUMBAI – The headline indices ended lower Tuesday with the Nifty 50 extending its losses for the 10th straight session. Gains in select banking and financial services stocks were offset by the decline in automobile and information technology stocks. Sentiment was weak as tariffs imposed by the US on Mexico and Canada came into effect, and China retaliated against the additional tariff on it with tariffs on goods from the US.

The Nifty 50 fell below its key support level of 22000 points as soon as the market opened. The 50-stock index saw some buying after slipping below the support level, but still closed lower at 22082.65 points, down 0.2%. The BSE Sensex ended at 72989.93 points, down 96.01 points or 0.1%. The broader market indices ended mixed. Small-cap indices ended 0.6-1.2% up, and the Nifty Midcap 100 and Midcap 150 ended slightly higher, but the Nifty Midcap 50 ended down 0.1%.

The short-term volatility is possibly due to uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump's tariffs, which have hit investor optimism, Narendra Solanki, head of fundamental research, investment services, at Anand Rathi Share & Stock Brokers, said.

Shares of Bajaj Auto ended down nearly 5%, extending its losses for the seventh straight session. The stock price has fallen 15% over this period. Shares of Hero MotoCorp and Eicher Motors also ended down 3% and 2%, respectively. Owing to this, the Nifty Auto index was the worst performing sectoral index, closing 1.3% lower.

Shares of two-wheeler companies were down amid weaker-than-expected sales figures in February. Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities said sales of two-wheelers for companies tracked by the brokerage fell 2.2% on year. It said the decline was largely due to higher-than-anticipated wholesale despatches in January and expects this to change in the near term.

Shares of information technology companies continued to face selling pressure as doubts over economic growth in the US have given rise to concern that the pick-up in discretionary spending in the US will be limited. Shares of HCL Technologies ended down 2.4%, extending its losses for the sixth straight session. Share of Wipro, Infosys, and Tech Mahindra also ended down 0.3-1.2%. The Nifty IT index ended nearly 1% lower, closing at its lowest level in nine months.

Kotak Institutional Equities expects the growth of most IT companies in the financial year 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) to be below normalised levels due to slower-than-expected recovery in discretionary spends, uneven recovery in verticals such as hi-tech, and possible disruption from the adoption of artificial intelligence by enterprises. However, the brokerages expect a slight improvement in growth in FY26 compared with FY25.

Shares of Supreme Industries ended down 4.4%, and were among the worst hit in the Nifty 200 index. Brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher has downgraded the rating on the stock to 'accumulate' from 'buy' and trimmed its target price to INR 3,748.00, from INR 5,040.00. The brokerage said pressure on the company's margin will continue due to discounts offered to gain volume and the dumping of cheaper polyvinyl chloride resin in the domestic market by China. Shares of Adani Green Energy and One97 Communications each ended over 4% lower.

State Bank of India ended up 3%, and was among the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index. Global brokerage Citi has double upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'sell', and also raised the target price to INR 830 from INR 720, according to a post by ET Now on social media platform X. The brokerage said the lowering of risk weights on lending to non-banking finance companies to the earlier level will boost SBI's Common Equity Tier-1 ratio by 25 basis points to 30 basis points, as per the post.

Shares of oil-marketing companies such as Hindustan Petroleum Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp., and Indian Oil Corp. ended up over 3% each. These stocks rose after Brent crude oil prices fell to a three-month low of $70.50 per barrel overnight after reports said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries had decided to finally ramp up crude oil production. Shares of some defence companies such as Bharat Electronics and Bharat Dynamics also ended up 3% and 7%, respectively. Shares of NLC India ended up 11%, snapping a seven-session losing streak during which the stock fell 14%.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG were down 1% and 0.5%, respectively, while the Nifty Media, Nifty PSU Bank ,and Nifty Energy ended up 0.8-2.4%.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 23 rose and 27 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 11 rose and 19 fell

* On the NSE, 1,658 stocks rose, 1,214 fell, and 82 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,221 stocks rose, 1,737 fell, and 128 were unchanged

* Nifty Auto: down 1.3%; Nifty IT: down 0.9%; Nifty Media: up 2.4%

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 72989.93, down 96.01 points or 0.1%       Nifty 50: 22082.65, down 36.65 points or 0.2%

End

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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