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Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 18, 2025

 

By Gopika Balasubramanium

 

MUMBAI – Headline indices closed sharply higher Tuesday, with the Nifty 50 closing above 22800 points for the first time since Feb. 20. Some analysts attributed the jump in indices to traders covering their short positions in index futures contracts. The sentiment has turned positive as there is comfort in valuations, no tariff-related shocks from the US, and domestic inflation data pointing at a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India in April, analysts said. Gains in index heavyweight stocks also played a role in the rise of the indices.

 

Traders want to enter the market as valuations are at comfortable levels, and they can find fundamentally-strong stocks across the large-, mid-, and small-cap space at cheap prices, said Pankaj Karde, head – institutional equities at Asit C. Mehta Investments Intermediates. There is also improvement in sentiment as some global brokerages, in the last few days, have come forward and noted the Indian market as a good place to invest in, he said. Right now, there is a time correction in the market, and the Nifty 50 will likely hover at 22800-23000 points in the near term, he said. A time correction is when indices move in a range. The market has completely discounted US President Donald Trump's tariff-related announcements as they are seldom backed by action, Karde said.

 

The Nifty 50 closed at 22834.30 points, up 325.55 points or 1.5%, and the BSE Sensex closed at 75301.26 points, up 1,131.31 points or 1.5%. Broader market indices outperformed the benchmark indices again, with each of these gaining more than 2%.

 

Only four Nifty 50 constituents ended lower. These were Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries. ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Shriram Finance were the top gainers, closing more than 3% higher. Shares of Shriram Finance closed higher after S&P Global upgraded the company's long-term rating to 'BB+' with a 'stable' outlook on account of improvement in its financial stability. The rating agency also expects Shriram Finance to maintain its leadership in the used commercial vehicles market.

 

Shares of metal companies Ratnamani Metals and Tubes, Vedanta, Hindalco Industries ended over 3-7% higher. The government has imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty on the import of Chinese aluminium foil for six months. The anti-dumping duty will be levied between $619 per tonne and $873 per tonne depending on the producer of the aluminium foil and whether the product originated in China or is exported from China.

 

Shares of Tata Steel and JSW Steel closed higher by 1.2% and 1.8%, respectively. Fitch Ratings said the rating headroom for these two steelmakers has reduced due to possible pressure on domestic steel prices in 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) from persistent cheap steel imports from China and rising risks from aggressive tariff policies by some economies. The rating agency believes any steps by the Indian government to protect domestic steelmakers from cheaper imports, for instance by levying anti-dumping duties, could provide an upside to its margin estimates for FY26. Nevertheless, it expects India's steel demand to grow around 10% in FY26, supported by healthy public spending and demand from the construction, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.

 

Among the stocks that fell, Bajaj Finserv closed 1.4% lower and was the worst hit in the Nifty 50. Late Monday, the company said German insurance company Allianz SE would sell its entire 26% stake in the insurance joint ventures Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co. Bajaj Finserv said it will buy around 1.01% stake in each of these joint ventures for an aggregate of INR 9.39 billion and post these stake purchases, its shareholding will increase to 75.01% stake in each of these companies.

 

All sectoral indices ended higher Tuesday. The Nifty Media ended 3.6% higher, snapping a five-day losing streak. The Nifty Realty index was the second top gainer, followed by Nifty Consumer Durables. Karde of Asit C. Mehta Investments said he is bullish on consumer durable stocks with the onset of summer season and expectations of rise in discretionary spending by consumers due to recent government incentives. Shares of air-conditioner giant Blue Star closed 7% higher.

 

The Nifty Oil & Gas index gained the least among sectoral indices and closed 0.7% higher. A fall of nearly 6% in shares of Castrol India limited the gains of this index. On the macroeconomic side, prices of crude oil rose slightly due to rising attacks by the Houthis on ships plying the Red Sea and the US putting pressure on Iran, which is said to back the Yemen based rebels, said Yogesh Patil, research analyst at Dolat Capital. The US putting pressure on Iran would lead to supply-side pressure on crude oil prices, he said. Crude oil prices also rose as positive Chinese economic data fuelled demand for the commodity, he said.

 

Patil said there won't be any direct impact from the rise in crude oil prices on Indian oil marketing companies. Shares of Hindustan Petroleum Corp. closed 0.5% lower while those of Bharat Petroleum Corp. ended 0.3% higher.

 

IRCON International closed 5.6% higher after the company's joint venture with Badri Rai and Co. got an order worth INR 10.96 billion from the Meghalaya government for construction of a new secretariat complex in New Shillong City. Shares of NCC closed nearly 4% higher. Earlier in the day, Informist had reported that the company was the lowest bidder for four tenders floated by the Andhra Pradesh government for works in the state's capital, Amaravati, for an aggregate value of INR 16.7 billion.

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 46 rose and 4 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 26 rose and 4 fell

* On the NSE, 2,288 stocks rose, 646 fell, and 82 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,815 stocks rose, 1,221 fell, and 123 were unchanged

* Nifty Media: up 3.6%; Nifty Realty: up 3.2%; Nifty Oil & Gas: up 0.7%

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BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 75301.26, up 1131.31 points or 1.5%       Nifty 50: 22834.30, up 325.55 points or 1.5%

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S&P BSE Sensitive Index	Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 85978.25 (Sept. 27, 2024)	: Lifetime High: 26277.35 (Sept. 27, 2024)
Record Close High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26, 2024)	: Record Close High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26, 2024)
2025 1st day close: 78507.41 (Jan. 1)	: 2025 1st day close: 23742.90 (Jan. 1)
2025 Closing High: 79943.71 (Jan. 2)	: 2025 Closing High: 24188.65 (Jan. 2)
2025 Closing Low: 72989.93 (Mar. 4)	: 2025 Closing Low: 22082.65 (Mar. 4)
2025 High (intraday): 80072.99 (Jan. 3)	: 2025 High (intraday): 24226.70 (Jan. 2)
2025 Low (intraday): 72633.54 (Mar. 4)	: 2025 Low (intraday): 21964.60 (Mar. 4)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan. 1)	: 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan. 1)
2024 Closing High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26)	: 2024 Closing High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan. 23)	: 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan. 23)
2024 High (intraday): 85978.25 (Sep. 27)	: 2024 High (intraday): 26277.35 (Sept. 27)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan. 24)	: 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan. 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan. 2)	: 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan. 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec. 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb. 27)	: 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct. 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec. 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan. 30)	: 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan. 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan. 3)	: 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan. 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec. 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun. 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec. 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun. 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct. 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan. 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct. 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan. 29)
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec. 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar. 23)	: 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar. 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec. 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar. 24)	: 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar. 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec. 20)	: 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec. 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb. 19)	: 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan. 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug. 28))	: 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug. 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar. 23)	: 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar. 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec. 26)	: 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec. 26)

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End

 

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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