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Informist, Tuesday, Apr. 1, 2025

By Akash Mandal

MUMBAI – Benchmark indices ended sharply lower Monday as investors likely pulled out some money amid uncertainty over US reciprocal tariffs to be rolled out from Thursday. The Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex both closed at their lowest levels in over one week, declining 1.5% and 1.8%, respectively.

The sharp fall is likely due to investors pricing in the reciprocal tariffs to be announced by US President Donald Trump, several fundamental and technical analysts said. Weak global cues over the past week as the deadline for tariffs neared could be another factor that impacted the market, analysts said.

Information technology stocks, alongside banking and financial services stocks, were the biggest drags on the Nifty 50. HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, and Shriram Finance were among the worst hit in the 50-stock index, ending 3-4% lower.

The Nifty 50 ended at 23165.70 points, down 353.65 points or 1.5%, and the BSE Sensex closed at 76024.51 points, down 1390.41 points or 1.8%. Broader market indices were better off than their benchmark counterparts but ended 0.5-1.0% lower. Volatality was high in the market with the India VIX, which is the fear gauge for the market, rising over 8% higher at 13.78. 

Automobile stocks were in focus during the session as companies reported their sales figures for March. Ashok Leyland ended over 2% higher after its total vehicle sales rose 6% on year in March. TVS Motor Co. also gained nearly 1% as its total sales rose 17% on year. Mahindra & Mahindra, Eicher Motors, and Maruti Suzuki India all ended 0.4-1.1% lower despite reporting a year-on-year growth in March sales.

Barring Nifty Media and Nifty Oil & Gas, all other sectoral indices ended lower. Nifty Oil & Gas ended a tad higher, with Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp., Castrol India, and GAIL (India) rising 2-3% each. However, gains in the index were capped as heavyweight Reliance Industries ended around 2% lower. Prices of the June contract of Brent Crude Oil futures rose 0.5% to $75.15 per barrel. Crude prices have risen in 11 of the past 13 sessions, gaining nearly 8%.

On the other hand, Nifty Realty was the worst hit among sectoral indices and ended down over 3%. Nifty Consumer Durables also ended over 2% lower, and Nifty FMCG closed down 1%. FMCG stocks may face selling ahead of the March quarter earnings as margins of products such as soaps, snacks, tea, and coconut oil may be under pressure due to sharp inflation in palm oil, copra, and tea. This may hurt the margin of Tata Consumer Products, Godrej Consumer Products, Bikaji Foods International, and Marico, Nuvama Institutional Equities said in a report. Emkay Global Financial Services and Kotak Institutional Equities also expressed similar views in their reports on the sector.

Among stocks, Vodafone Idea gained over 19% and ended as the top gainer in the Nifty 500 after the company said the government would convert the outstanding spectrum auction dues worth INR 369.5 billion into equity shares. The government will get the stake at INR 10 per share as compared with Friday's close of INR 6.80. 

Timely support from the government will ease the cash flow of the company for three years and will likely support raising debt from banks, brokerage Citi said as per a post on X by CNBC-TV18. The US-based investment bank maintained a 'buy' rating on the stock with a target price of INR 12. Motilal Oswal Financial Services said the support from the government for Vodafone Idea's is positive for Indus Towers. Shares of Indus Towers ended up over 5%. 

HBL Engineering ended over 8% higher after it got five orders of INR 7.6 billion from the Central Railway. Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy also rose over 6% after it received three orders aggregating to INR 14.70 billion for projects in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Among others, UCO Bank, IPCA Laboratories, Voltas, and Suven Pharmaceuticals ended 7-13% lower and were the worst hit in the Nifty 500.

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

* Of the Sensex stocks, 1 rose and 29 fell

* On the NSE, 1,955 stocks rose, 960 fell, and 79 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,708 stocks rose, 1,344 fell, and 143 were unchanged

* Nifty Realty: down 3.1%; Nifty Consumer Durables: down 2.5%; Nifty Media: up 2.2%

BSE                                                NSE

Sensex: 76024.51, down 1390.41 points or 1.8%      Nifty 50: 23165.70, down 353.65 points or 1.5%

End

Edited by Saji George Titus

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