Market Wrap: Sensex and Nifty Gain as Financial Stocks Lead; Broader Indices Rally
About 2,345 stocks are advancing against 568 stocks that are declining, thus indicating a positive market breadth in the broader market.
Market Update at 4:00 PM: Indian equity benchmark indices inched higher on Wednesday as financial stocks led the gain. Benchmark indices logged the highest monthly gains in the last one month.
The Sensex closed 147 points or 0.2 per cent higher at 75,449, while the Nifty closed 73 points or 0.32 per cent higher at 22,907. The Nifty Bank closed 388 points higher and settled at 49,700.
Investors remain cautious ahead of key global economic events, including interest rate decisions by the Bank of Japan and the US Federal Reserve.
Broader indices closed higher, where Nifty Mid-Cap soared by 2.63 per cent, while Nifty Small-Cap ended higher by 2.43 per cent.
As indicated by India VIX, market volatility has increased by 0.66 per cent, reflecting an increase in market volatility compared to the last trading session.
Nifty Realty, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Energy are among the Top Gainers, while Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG were the Top Losers.
Apollo Hospital, Shriram Finance & HDFC Life are among the top gainers, while TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra are among the top losing stocks from the Nifty 50.
About 2,345 stocks are advancing against 568 stocks that are declining, thus indicating a positive market breadth in the broader market.
Market Update at 2:15 PM: In the current trading session, the benchmark indices trade higher, with the Sensex surging by 0.19 per cent, while Nifty jumped by 10.38 per cent, led by gains in financial shares. Similarly, Nifty Mid-cap has soared by 2.52 per cent, while Nifty Small-cap trades higher by 2.16 per cent.
India VIX, which jumped above the 13 mark, was up by 1 per cent during the day.
Nifty Realty, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Energy are among the top gainers, while Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG were the top losers.
Apollo Hospital, Shriram Finance & HDFC Life are among the top gainers, while TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra are among the top losing stocks from the Nifty 50.
About 2293 stocks are advancing as against 458 stocks that are declining, thus indicating a positive market breadth in the broader market.
Market Update at 12:20 PM: India’s benchmark indices traded flat in early session on Wednesday, reflecting subdued sentiment across Asian markets, as investors stayed cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy announcement.
As of 12.10 p.m., the Nifty 50 was up 0.26 per cent at 22,893, while the Sensex advanced 0.18 per cent to 75,444. With these gains, the Nifty has gained over 2 per cent in the current week
Global investors are closely watching the Federal Reserve’s comments on the U.S. economy and its future interest rate path to evaluate the effects of shifts in U.S. trade policies. The central bank is expected to keep rates unchanged later today.
India VIX was trading above the 13 mark and was up by 1.5 per cent during the day.
By midday, the top contributors to market gains were index heavyweights HDFC Bank (+45.41 pts), Reliance Industries (+23.16 pts) and Shriram Finance (+8.5 pts). On the other hand, IT giants TCS (-18.3 pts) and Infosys (-44.7 pts) were the index laggards.
Broader indices were trading in green, with Nifty Mid-cap surging 1.86 per cent and Nifty Small-cap up 1.65 per cent. Sectoral performance was strong, 15 out of 17 sectors were in the green, led by Nifty Realty and Nifty PSU Bank, while Nifty Metal jumped 1 per cent.
About 2293 stocks are advancing as against 498 stocks that are declining, thus indicating a Positive market breadth.
Market Update at 10:30 AM: Indian markets opened flat on Wednesday as gains in metal stocks, driven by the government’s proposal for a temporary tax on certain steel imports, balanced out losses in the IT sector ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy announcement.
At 10:15 a.m., the Nifty 50 was up 0.12 per cent at 22,883, while the Sensex advanced 0.22 per cent to 75,384. Almost all sectors recorded gains, with Realty rising 2.08 per cent.
Broader markets also saw strong gains, with small-cap and mid-cap indices climbing around 1.44 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.
The metal index jumped 1 per cent after the government recommended a safeguard duty of 12 per cent on some steel imports for 200 days.
In today’s trade, India VIX is trading above the 13 mark, up by 0.64 per cent, indicating an increase in market volatility.
Shriram Finance, Tata Steel and IndusInd Bank are among the top gainers, while TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra are among the top losing stocks from the Nifty 50.
About 2,187 stocks are advancing as against 414 declining stocks, thus indicating a Positive sentiment in the broader market.
Pre-Market Update at 7:45 AM: Sensex and Nifty 50 are likely to start Wednesday’s session on a positive note, tracking mixed global cues. While Asian markets showed a mixed trend, Wall Street ended lower as technology stocks faced a sell-off.
Gift Nifty was hovering near 22,960, reflecting a premium of approximately 65 points over the previous close of Nifty futures, signalling a higher opening for Indian equity indices.
The US stock market closed lower on Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 260.32 points, or 0.62 per cent, to settle at 41,581.31. The S&P 500 declined 60.46 points, or 1.07 per cent, to end at 5,614.66, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 304.55 points, or 1.71 per cent, to close at 17,504.12.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a call with US President Donald Trump, agreed to temporarily halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities but did not support a full 30-day ceasefire. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed support for the US proposal to halt attacks on energy infrastructure.
Industrial production in the US exceeded expectations, rising 0.7 per cent in February following a revised 0.3 per cent increase in January. A Bloomberg survey of economists had projected a 0.2 per cent increase.
Single-family home construction in the US saw a strong recovery in February, with housing starts surging 11.4 per cent to an annualised rate of 1.108 million units. January’s data was revised to reflect a decline to 995,000 units, slightly different from the previously reported 993,000 units.
The White House confirmed that President Donald Trump remains committed to implementing new reciprocal tariff rates starting April 2. Officials stated that unless tariff and non-tariff barriers are balanced or the US holds higher tariff rates, the new tariffs will be enforced as planned.
Asian markets showed a mixed trend on Wednesday, reacting to losses on Wall Street from the previous session. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.41 per cent, while the Topix index climbed 0.70 per cent. In South Korea, the Kospi index gained 0.91 per cent, whereas the Kosdaq slipped 0.27 per cent. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures pointed to a slightly weaker opening.
Crude oil prices held a decline as an industry report pointed to a build in US crude stockpiles. Brent crude oil fell 0.41 per cent to USD 70.27 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined 0.46 per cent to USD 66.59.
The dollar was at 102.9, while USD/INR was trading at 86.59.
On March 18, 2025, after remaining net sellers for the last 17 sessions, foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 694.57 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth Rs 2,534.75 crore.
Stocks that are banned for trading in the F&O segment on March 19, 2025, are BSE, IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Copper, Manappuram Finance, SAIL, etc.
Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.