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EQUITY
Post Session: Quick Review
May-21-2025

Indian equity benchmarks snapped their three-day losing streak on Wednesday, with both the Nifty and Sensex closing higher, amid supportive cues from other Asian markets. Markets made a positive start and extended their gains, bolstered by strong buying interest in heavyweight stocks such as Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, and Hindustan Unilever. However, in the afternoon session, the indices pulled back from their intraday highs but still managed to settle with gains around half a percent each.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

Retail inflation for farm and rural workers eases marginally in April: Traders got support as retail inflation for farm as well as rural workers eased marginally to 3.48 per cent and 3.53 per cent, respectively, in the month of April compared to the pace of price hikes for the two categories at 3.73 per cent and 3.86 per cent recorded in March. 

Industry hopeful of RBI rate cut very soon: Some support also came as PHDCCI Secretary General Ranjeet Mehta stated that the industry is hopeful of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank very soon and expects India's economic growth at more than 6.5 per cent in the current financial year.

Key infra sectors' growth slows to 0.5%in April: Market participants overlooked report that the output of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to an eight-month low of 0.5 per cent in April due to contraction in the production of crude oil, refinery products and fertiliser.    

Global front: European markets were trading in red on Wednesday, as market participants worried about the lack of progress on trade deal and closely monitored discussions on the US budget bill and federal deficit. Asian markets ended mostly in green on Wednesday after Japan's exports grew at a slower pace in April largely due to the higher tariffs imposed by the US administration.

The BSE Sensex ended at 81596.63, up by 410.19 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 81237.06 and 82021.64. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.90%, while Small cap index up by 0.51%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.65%, Realty up by 1.58%, Industrials up by 1.35%, Telecom up by 1.24% and PSU up by 1.07%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.64% was only losing index on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.02%, Tata Steel up by 1.86%, Sun Pharma up by 1.57%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.39% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.36%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.87%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.77%, Power Grid down by 0.67%, ITC down by 0.55% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.42% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Moody's Ratings in its latest report has said that India is well-positioned to deal with the negative effects of US tariffs and global trade disruptions as domestic growth drivers and low dependence on exports anchor the economy. In a note on India, it said government initiatives to boost private consumption, expand manufacturing capacity and increase infrastructure spending will help offset the weakening outlook for global demand. Easing inflation offers the potential for interest rate cuts to further support the economy, even as the banking sector's liquidity facilitates lending.

The agency said ‘in a scenario of sustained escalation in localised tensions, we do not expect major disruptions to India's economic activity because it has minimal economic relations with Pakistan’. Moreover, it said the parts of India that produce most of its agricultural and industrial output are geographically distant from the conflict zones. However, higher defense spending would potentially weigh on India's fiscal strength and slow its fiscal consolidation. The central government's infrastructure spending supports GDP growth, while personal income tax cuts bolster consumption.

It further said India's limited reliance on the trade of goods and its robust service sector are mitigants to US tariffs. Nonetheless, sectors such as autos, which have some exports to the US, face global trade challenges despite their diversified operations. Moody's had earlier this month lowered its economic growth projections for the 2025 calendar year to 6.3 per cent, from 6.7 per cent, but its growth rate will be the highest among G-20 economies. 

The CNX Nifty ended at 24813.45, up by 129.55 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 24685.35 and 24946.20. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 5.14%, Tata Steel up by 1.95%, Cipla up by 1.77%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.49% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.08%, JSW Steel down by 1.07%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.87%, Power Grid down by 0.72% and Coal India down by 0.66% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; France’s CAC fell 50.9 points or 0.64% to 7,891.52, Germany’s DAX lost 79.33 points or 0.33% to 23,956.78 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 8.91 points or 0.1% to 8,772.21.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday, with Chinese market settling higher as private report said that it raised China GDP forecast to 4.5% for this year, citing easing trade tensions. However, markets were remaining under pressure from rising Treasury yields due to US debt load and tax-cut bill concerns following Moody’s downgrade of the country’s sovereign credit rating. Japanese markets underperformed as the yen continued to strengthen on BoJ interest rate hike bets and data showed Japan's export growth continued to decelerate for the second consecutive month, while tariff-related uncertainty also weighed on sentiments.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,387.57

7.09

0.21

Hang Seng

23,827.78

146.30

0.61

Jakarta Composite

7,142.46

47.86

0.67

KLSE Composite

1,544.80

-4.07

-0.26

Nikkei 225

37,298.98

-230.51

-0.62

Straits Times

3,882.55

0.05

0.00

KOSPI Composite

2,625.58

23.78

0.91

Taiwan Weighted

21,803.91

277.88

1.27
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