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Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2025

By Gopika Balasubramanium

MUMBAI – The Indian equity markets closed on a flat note as profit booking at higher levels offset the gains from the latest soft stance of the US on tariffs. Investors booked profits after benchmark indices touched near three-month high during the day. Though investors booked their profits, the market closed higher for the seventh session in a row, its longest winning run in nearly seven months.
 

The recent sharp rise of the Indian market was cautiously watched by many analysts, who repeatedly said that investors would book their profits ahead of the US reciprocal tariffs coming into effect from April 2. However, gains in information technology and financial services stocks cushioned benchmark equity indices from slipping into the red. The biggest drags on the Nifty 50 were heavyweights Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank. The Nifty 50 closed at 23668.65 points, up 10.30 points and the BSE Sensex closed at 78017.19 points, up 32.81 points.

As long as the Nifty 50 remains above the psychologically important level of 23000 points, sentiment is positive, Nandish Shah, senior technical and derivatives analyst at HDFC Securities, said. It is difficult to tell when the 50-stock index will cross the 24000 level, given the anticipation of a small correction, he said. Shah sees the Nifty 50 support at 23400 points and resistance at 23800 points.  

Global market indices, except for those in China and South Korea, saw sharp gains. The overall sentiment improved after US President Donald Trump said he would likely exclude a set of sector-specific tariffs while levying reciprocal duties on countries and would take a measured approach. There are uncertainties about the next leg of US tariff policies, especially as Trump has gone back and forth with his policies, research analysts said. 

What came as not-so-good news for the market was the US President's announcement to slap a 25% additional tariff on countries importing oil and gas from Venezuela. This came as a blow to India which was planning to buy more oil from Venezuela as regulatory restrictions placed on the country were likely to ease.

India can easily replace the Venezuelan crude import quantity from some other nations, Yogesh Patil, a research analyst tracking the oil and gas sector at Dolat Capital Market, said. India has not imported liquified natural gas from Venezuela, as per data from the commerce ministry, he said. Venezuela exported 660,000 barrels of crude per day globally last year, Financial Times reported, citing Kpler. China, which is already hit with a 20% tariff from Trump recently, is among the top buyers, alongside India, Spain and Italy, the report said. 

Back home, shares of UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, and Trent were the top gainers in the Nifty 50 Tuesday. UltraTech rose sharply and closed over 3% higher after UBS upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral' and raised the target price to INR 13,000, which implies a nearly 14% upside from Tuesday's close. Media reports, citing UBS, said that the rough phase in the cement sector is seen ending. The sector had faced multiple headwinds such as soft demand, falling prices, and poor volume growth.

Bharti Hexacom was the top gainer In the Nifty 200 index, closing nearly 4% higher, while Dixon Technologies, which ended nearly 7% lower, was the worst hit. HEG and Graphite India were the biggest gainers among Nifty 500 constituents, closing nearly 12% and 8% higher, respectively. 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 19 rose, 30 fell and one was unchanged

* Of the Sensex stocks, 11 rose and 19 fell

* On the NSE, 674 stocks rose, 2,258 fell, and 66 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,085 stocks rose, 2,983 fell, and 109 were unchanged

* Nifty IT: up 1.3%; Nifty Financial Services: up 0.1%; Nifty Consumer Durables: down 1.9%

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 78017.19, up 32.81 points or 0.04%        Nifty 50: 23668.65, up 10.30 points or 0.04%

End

US$1 = INR 85.75

Edited by Saji George Titus

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