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Markets break 7-day winning run; Nifty below 24,250 mark
Apr-24-2025

Indian equity benchmarks ended in red on Thursday, halting a seven-session winning streak, as investors booked profits on monthly F&O expiry day. The markets saw broad-based selling, with pressure intensifying in the second half of the session. Heightened geopolitical tensions, following the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir, weighed on market sentiment. 

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:  

World Bank lowers India's growth forecast for FY26: The World Bank in its latest ‘South Asia Development Update’ has lowered India’s economic growth forecast for 2025-26 by 40 basis points to 6.3 per cent, over global economic weakness and policy uncertainty. 

Weak earnings from major FMCG companies: FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) dropped 4 per cent after the firm reported a decline of 3.35 per cent in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,475 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2025 on lower margins. Besides, Nestle India reported a decline of 6.5 per cent in consolidated net profit at Rs 873.46 crore for the March quarter of 2024-25.

US tariffs could shave up to 0.5% off India's GDP: Finance Secretary Ajay Seth reportedly said the direct hit from tariffs introduced by Donald Trump’s administration on India could shave off between 0.2% and 0.5% from GDP growth. 

Rupee rises against Dollar: After a two-day pause, Indian rupee gained against the US dollar, on weak greenback and overnight decline in crude oil prices. 

FII buying streak extends to 6th day: Exchange data showed foreign investors continued to pump money into Indian equities for the sixth day in a row, with Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,332.93 crore on Wednesday. 

Weak global cues: European markets were trading lower as renewed concerns about U.S. government's trade policy and uncertainty about U.S. tariffs on China weighed on sentiment. Asian markets settled mostly down as trade war concerns resurfaced following mixed signals from the Trump administration regarding easing tariffs on Chinese imports 

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 315.06 points or 0.39% to 79,801.43, and the CNX Nifty was down by 82.25 points or 0.34% to 24,246.70.    

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 80,173.92 and 79,724.55 respectively. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.16%, while Small cap index was down by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Basic Materials up by 0.63%, Healthcare up by 0.55% and Metal up by 0.26%, while Realty down by 1.39%, FMCG down by 0.82%, TECK down by 0.59%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.33% and Bankex down by 0.31% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.24%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.77%, Tata Motors up by 1.26%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.94% and Sun Pharma up by 0.87%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 4.00%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.96%, ICICI Bank down by 1.53%, Eternal down by 1.17% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the World Bank in its latest ‘South Asia Development Update’ has lowered India’s economic growth forecast for 2025-26 by 40 basis points to 6.3 per cent, over global economic weakness and policy uncertainty. In India, growth is expected to slow from 6.5 per cent in 2024-25 to 6.3 per cent in 2025-26 as the benefits to private investment from monetary easing and regulatory streamlining are expected to be offset by global economic weakness and policy uncertainty.

For 2024-25, India’s growth forecast has been lowered by 50 basis points to 6.5 per cent. It stated ‘Amid increasing uncertainty in the global economy, South Asia’s growth prospects have weakened, with projections downgraded in most countries in the region.’ World Bank projects regional growth to slow to 5.8 per cent in 2025-0.4 percentage points below October projections-before ticking up to 6.1 per cent in 2026.

This outlook is subject to heightened risks, including from a highly uncertain global landscape, combined with domestic vulnerabilities, including constrained fiscal space. Besides, the Reserve Bank of India also recently lowered the growth forecast for the current fiscal 2025-26 to 6.5 per cent from 6.7 per cent, amid uncertainties arising from trade wars following the reciprocal tariffs announced by the US.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 24,347.85 and 24,216.15. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.   

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 3.17%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.89%, Grasim Industries up by 1.67%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.59% and Cipla up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 4.12%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.89%, Eicher Motors down by 1.88%, ICICI Bank down by 1.64% and Eternal down by 1.02% were the top losers.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 11.18 points or 0.13% to 8,392.00, France’s CAC fell 26.54 points or 0.35% to 7,455.82 and Germany’s DAX lost 89.37 points or 0.41% to 21,872.60.

Asian markets settled mostly down on Thursday as doubts over a de-escalation in the US-China trade war persisted after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there were no plans for US President Donald Trump to move first in lowering tariffs to ease Sino-US tensions, echoing comments from White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt that there will be no unilateral reduction in tariffs against China. Hong Kong shares declined, led by technology shares. Although, Japanese shares gained on potential tariff negotiations between Japan and the United States. Chinese shares gained marginally after China issued the first batch of special sovereign bonds for 2025 as part of the stimulus announced by authorities to soften the blow from simmering trade tensions with the United States. 

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,297.29

0.93

0.03

Hang Seng

21,909.76

-162.86

-0.74

Jakarta Composite

6,613.48

-20.90

-0.32

KLSE Composite

1,506.52

5.33

0.36

Nikkei 225

35,039.15

170.52

0.49

Straits Times

3,831.92

-0.40

-0.01

KOSPI Composite

2,522.33

-3.23

-0.13

Taiwan Weighted

19,478.81

-160.33

-0.82
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