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Key gauges add gains in morning deals
Mar-13-2025

Indian equity benchmarks added some gains in morning deals, driven by buying in index heavyweights Tata Steel, NTPC and SBI amid a robust domestic macroeconomic data. Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation slipped to a seven-month low of 3.61 per cent in February mainly due to easing prices of vegetables, eggs, and other protein-rich items, creating space for the RBI to go for another cut in interest rate next month. The second set of data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that the growth in Index of Industrial Production (IIP), a measure of performance of industries, accelerated to 5 per cent in January 2025, driven by a rebound in manufacturing activity. Sector-wise, IT stocks remained in watch as credit rating agency ICRA said that the Indian IT companies are expected to see moderate revenue growth of 4-6% in FY26, with hiring likely to remain subdued until growth accelerates towards the end of the fiscal year. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as concerns about the impact of the ongoing trade war continued to weigh on the markets. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74275.82, up by 246.06 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 74046.43 and 74401.11. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.41%, while Small cap index was up by 0.41%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.25%, Capital Goods up by 1.24%, PSU up by 1.14%, Industrials up by 1.06% and Utilities up by 1.03%, while Auto down by 0.13% and IT down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.13%, NTPC up by 1.09%, SBI up by 1.06%, ICICI Bank up by 1.03% and Titan Company up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 0.76%, Asian Paints down by 0.44%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.34%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.30% and Infosys down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency Icra has said that the Indian IT companies are expected to see moderate revenue growth of 4-6% in FY26, with hiring likely to remain subdued until growth accelerates towards the end of the fiscal year. The agency projected attrition level to average 12-13% over the near term. During first nine months of FY2025, Icra’s sample set of Indian IT services companies which account for 60% of the industry in revenue terms has exhibited 3.6% year-on-year revenue growth in US dollar terms. As per Icra, the growth was part of a gradual recovery over the past three quarters, aided by a lower base from FY2024. Moreover, the slight rise in discretionary spending by customers in the BFSI and retail sectors in certain markets, along with investments in Generative AI initiatives contributed to new orders.

Icra expects the growth momentum for its sample set of IT services companies to remain muted over the near term, owing to the looming uncertainty related to the imposition of the US trade tariffs and macroeconomic headwinds across the key markets of the US and Europe. It added that the policy changes by the US government for key sectors catered to by Indian IT services companies as well as future interest rate trajectory will remain the key factors to be monitored. It also added that the IT industry experienced relief due to reduced attrition rates and wage cost inflation, which were significant concerns during FY2023 and the first half of FY2024 and it expects hiring to remain low in the near term until the growth momentum picks up by the end of FY2026. It suggested that the lower hiring activity can also be correlated with higher investments by the industry in GenAI and the expected benefits in terms of increased productivity and cost savings.

While explaining about the developments regarding Generative AI in IT industry, Icra has said that major Indian IT services companies have trained a significant number of their employees in Generative AI skills and are now expanding their capabilities and service offerings to provide GenAI-based solutions to their clients. Furthermore, this started to show results as the inflow of GenAI-related deals for major industry players has risen in recent quarters and is expected to pick up materially over the medium term, as overall technology adoption is more pervasive. The healthcare and BFSI sectors remain the early adopters of AI/GenAI capabilities and continue to invest in the same.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22538.50, up by 68.00 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 22460.40 and 22558.05. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 2.90%, ONGC up by 1.59%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.23%, Trent up by 1.23% and Tata Steel up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 0.95%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.93%, Tata Motors down by 0.76%, Grasim Industries down by 0.50% and Asian Paints down by 0.45% were the top losers. 

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 224.29 points or 1.01% to 22,054.07, Hang Seng declined 173.51 points or 0.74% to 23,426.80, KOSPI dropped 1.33 points or 0.05% to 2,573.49, Straits Times fell 2.42 points or 0.06% to 3,830.65, Jakarta Composite plunged 2 points or 0.03% to 6,663.05 and Shanghai Composite weakened 14.9 points or 0.44% to 3,357.02.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 111.9 points or 0.3% to 36,930.99. 
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