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Informist, Thursday, Mar. 13, 2025

By Akshita Kumar

MUMBAI – Benchmark indices ended down Thursday, mainly because of a fall in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, and Infosys. Weakness in a few automobile and financial services stocks also weighed on the Nifty 50. The indices had opened higher due to softer-than-expected inflation data from the US and India. But global uncertainty surrounding the US tariffs saw the headline indices give up early gains, analysts said.

The Nifty 50 ended at 22397.20 points, down 73.30 points and 0.3%, and the BSE Sensex ended at 73828.91 points, down 200.85 points or 0.3%. The 50-stock index had opened up 0.3% and the BSE Sensex had opened up 0.4%, but both did not sustain these gains for long. Broader market indices also could not sustain initial gains and ended lower. Nifty Midcap indices ended down 0.6-0.8% and the small-cap indices ended down 0.7-1.1%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries ended down 0.7% and contributed the most to the fall of the Nifty 50 index. The stock pulled the Nifty 50 down by 0.1%. The stock has an 8.2% weightage in the index. Other index heavyweights Infosys and HDFC Bank ended down 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively.

Shares of automobile companies such as Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki India, and Mahindra & Mahindra ended down 0.4-2.3%. Due to heavy selling in auto stocks, the Nifty Auto index ended down 1.1% and was among the worst-hit sectoral indices. Most of the constituents in the index ended down. Data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Thursday showed domestic automobile wholesales declined 6.4% on year in February due to lower demand for passenger cars. Even though exports grew in February, they clocked the lowest growth in seven months. Two-wheeler sales fell 9% on year during the month.

Shares of Shriram Finance and Hindalco Industries ended down 2.7% and 1.8%, respectively, and were among the other worst-hit Nifty 50 constituents. On the other hand, Bharat Electronics ended higher by 1.2% and retained its position as the top Nifty 50 performer throughout the trading session. Nomura Global Markets Research has reaffirmed its 'buy' rating on the stock and kept the target price unchanged at INR 363. The stock has reasonable valuations and remains a top pick of the brokerage, Nomura said in a report.

The brokerage also said that Bharat Electronics is on track to achieve its order inflow guidance as the company is currently in the final stages of multiple negotiations with customers. Post market hours Wednesday, the company said it received a INR 24.6-billion contract from the Ministry of Defence to supply Ashwini radars.

Banking stocks such as State Bank of India and ICICI Bank ended up 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively. Due to the rise in few banking stocks, Nifty PSU Bank ended up 0.4% and Nifty Bank ended up marginally. These were the only two sectoral indices that closed in the green. Among sectoral indices that fell the most, Nifty Realty and Nifty Media ended down 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively, with most of their constituents in the red.

Moving to stocks that rose among Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 constituents, shares of Adani Green closed 2.4% higher after having risen 5% earlier in the session. Global brokerage firm Macquarie has initiated coverage on the stock with an 'outperform' rating and target price of INR 1,200. Shares of ITI hit the upper circuit of 5% earlier in the day and trading remained suspended for the rest of the session. Shares of Avenue Supermarts ended up over 3%, extending its gains for the seventh straight session.

Among stocks that fell sharply, PB Fintech ended down 5.3% and was the worst hit in the Nifty 200 index, while KEC International closed down 6% and was the worst-hit Nifty 500 constituent. Shares of Bharat Forge ended down 4.7% after the US Environmental Protection Agency announced a rollback of certain environmental regulations. The agency plans to reconsider more than a dozen key environmental protection rules, including vehicle emissions standards, a CNBC TV18 report said.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 15 rose and 35 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 9 rose and 21 fell

* On the NSE, 984 stocks rose, 1,894 fell, and 70 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,529 stocks rose, 2,448 fell, and 128 were unchanged

* Nifty Realty: down 1.8%; Nifty Media: down 1.5%; Nifty PSU Bank: up 0.4%

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 73828.91, down 200.85 points or 0.3%      Nifty 50: 22397.20, down 73.30 points or 0.3%

End

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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