Domestic equities decline amid subdued Q1 earnings, US-India trade deal caution

MUMBAI: Indian stock markets on Thursday concluded the day with declines, weighed down by subdued Q1 earnings announcements and market caution ahead of the India-US trade agreement.

At close of trading, the Sensex was down 375.24 points or 0.45 per cent at 82,259.24, and the Nifty declined 100.60 points or 0.40 per cent at 25,111.45.

“Indian equity benchmarks ended marginally lower as investors exercised caution amid subdued Q1 earnings announcements, particularly in the technology and banking sectors,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited said.

“Additional caution stemmed from the ongoing US-India trade negotiations, further prompting a defensive stance among market participants,” according to Ashika Institutional Equities’ market commentary.

During today’s trading session, Tata Consumer, Tata Steel, and Hindalco Industries Limited were the biggest Nifty gainers, while Tech Mahindra, Indusind Bank, and Infosys Limited were among the losers.

“The broader market also mirrored the weakness seen in frontline indices. Both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices ended lower, reflecting profit-booking across the board. Meanwhile, the advance-decline ratio was marginally skewed in favour of decliners, indicating a lack of broad-based participation in the market recovery,” said Sudeep Shah, Head – Technical and Derivatives Research by SBI Securities.

Nifty Realty and Nifty Consumer Durables were the top sectors for the day, while Nifty IT, along with Nifty PSU bank and Nifty Private bank, ended in the red zone. Around 3,023 stocks traded in the day, out of which 1,433 stocks saw a rise while 1,503 stocks declined. Eighty-seven stocks did not see a change.

US President Donald Trump recently hinted at reaching a new trade deal with India soon.

“Once the deal is announced and if it suits the interests of both countries, there will be a relief in the markets and we may see a short-term spurt, else the sluggish to pessimist mood could continue. Also, the ongoing earnings season will have a bearing on the markets, and investors would take positions based on how the results pan out going ahead,” noted Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd. (ANI)