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EQUITY
Key indices end lower for third consecutive session
Feb-07-2025

In a volatile session, Indian equity benchmarks ended lower for the third consecutive session on Friday as the Reserve Bank of India has lowered its GDP growth projections for the first and second quarters of the fiscal 2025-2026 amid the concerns over the protectionist trade policies by US president Donald Trump.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

Profit-taking amid foreign fund outflows: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,549.95 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data. 

RBI Rate cut to boost India's economic growth: India Inc cheered the RBI's move to slash the benchmark interest rate for the first time in nearly five years and asserted that it will complement the consumption-boosting measures announced in the last week's budget, providing much-needed support to the economy. 

Crude oil falls: Crude oil settled down, after U.S. President Donald Trump repeated a pledge to raise U.S. oil production, unnerving traders a day after the country reported a much bigger-than-anticipated jump in crude stockpiles.

Union Budget absolutely non-inflationary: Emphasizing policy measures aimed at supporting businesses, startups, and encouraging voluntary tax compliance, Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey has said that the Union Budget is absolutely non-inflationary.

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in red as traders looked ahead to the release of the monthly U.S. jobs report as well as preliminary readings on consumer sentiment and inflation expectations in February. Asian markets settled mostly higher with mainland Chinese and Hong Kong markets rising sharply as DeepSeek AI optimism lifted tech stocks. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 197.97 points or 0.25% to 77,860.19, and the CNX Nifty was down by 43.40 points or 0.18% to 23,559.95.      

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 78,356.98 and 77,475.74 respectively. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.13%, while Small cap index was down by 0.68%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.64%, Metal up by 2.40%, Consumer Durables up by 1.23%, Basic Materials up by 0.87% and Auto up by 0.64%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.31%, FMCG down by 1.25%, Energy down by 1.07%, PSU down by 0.77% and Industrials down by 0.73% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 4.34%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.60%, Zomato up by 2.10%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.86% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.45%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.38%, SBI down by 2.03%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.44%, TCS down by 1.31% and ICICI Bank down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, emphasizing policy measures aimed at supporting businesses, startups, and encouraging voluntary tax compliance, Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey has said that the Union Budget 2024-25 is absolutely non-inflationary. Pandey emphasized the government’s commitment to maintaining fiscal discipline while fostering economic growth. He highlighted the government’s long-term vision for India’s economic progress and the key policy measures designed to support businesses, startups, and voluntary tax compliance. Referring to the global economic challenges, he acknowledged that the current environment is not very encouraging for trade and growth.

He stated ‘There is not a very encouraging environment globally for growth and also for trade and at the same time, we have a very big vision, our vision to be Viksit Bharat by 2047. A lot has been done for startups, not only in terms of tax holiday that is provided and another five-year extension has been given for the period of incorporation, but also for the Rs 10,000 crore additional fund of funds.’ 

Besides, he talked about the government’s efforts to enhance voluntary tax compliance, noting that 99.7 per cent of tax returns are self-assessed, with scrutiny being limited to a mere 0.3 per cent. He mentioned ‘We promote voluntary compliance. We had 90 lakh, almost a crore new, updated returns. Rs 8000 to 9000 crore extra in taxes came voluntarily. There was a question, of course: why are we charging 70 per cent tax on updated returns. That’s not true. Let me update you. It is not 70 per cent of the total tax. It’s 70 per cent on additional tax.’

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 23,694.50 and 23,443.20. There were 28 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.  

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 4.24%, ITC Hotels up by 3.73%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.60%, JSW Steel up by 3.35% and Trent up by 3.09%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.49%, SBI down by 2.11%, Britannia Industries down by 1.70%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.59% and TCS down by 1.24% were the top losers. 

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 18.18 points or 0.21% to 8,709.10 and France’s CAC fell 12.37 points or 0.15% to 7,995.25, while Germany’s DAX gained 14.43 points or 0.07% to 21,916.85.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Friday following the mixed closing from Wall Street overnight, as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated his view on a lower path for 10-year yields under the Trump administration. Meanwhile, investors were awaiting the release of the monthly US jobs report as well as preliminary readings on consumer sentiment and inflation expectations in February later in the day for cues on the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. Chinese and Hong Kong shares gained sharply as DeepSeek AI optimism lifted technology shares. However,  Japanese shares declined as the yen hit a nine-week high against the U.S. dollar after Bank of Japan board member Tamura advocated for raising interest rates to at least 1% by the end of 2025 fiscal year.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,303.67

33.01

1.00

Hang Seng

21,133.54

241.92

1.14

Jakarta Composite

6,742.58

-132.96

-1.97

KLSE Composite

1,590.91

5.74

0.36

Nikkei 225

38,787.02

-279.51

-0.72

Straits Times

3,861.42

31.00

0.80

KOSPI Composite

2,521.92

-14.83

-0.59

Taiwan Weighted

23,478.27

161.67

0.69
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