Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty extended their losing streak to the second session on Wednesday, opening lower amid global weakness and cautious sentiment over domestic policy developments.
Investors are closely watching the US Federal Reserve’s policy outlook and the upcoming jobs report for further direction. On the domestic front, focus remains on the two-day GST Council meeting, where the Centre is expected to push for a simplified tax structure with two slabs of 5 per cent and 18 per cent in addition to a 40 per cent levy on sin goods.
At 9:22 am, the BSE Sensex was down 97.48 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 80,060.40, after falling as much as 153 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty50 fell 35.95 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 24,543.65, having hit a day’s low of 24,533.20.
Among Sensex stocks, Infosys led losers, falling 0.70 per cent to Rs 1,486.55. Bajaj Finance shares declined 0.68 per cent. Other losers included Bharti Airtel (down 0.47 per cent), ICICI Bank (down 0.40 per cent) and UltraTech Cement (down 0.36 per cent).
TCS shares gained 0.54 per cent to Rs 3,129.10 in Wednesday’s trade after the IT solutions provider announced it would expand its partnership with Scandinavian insurer Tryg through a seven-year, €550 million deal to streamline operations across Denmark, Sweden and Norway and drive digital transformation.
In global markets, the S&P 500 declined 0.69 per cent to close at 6,415.54, while the Nasdaq was down 0.82 per cent to 21,279.63. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.55 per cent to settle at 45,295.81.
At last check, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.29 per cent to 42,186.59, while China’s Beijing Stock Exchange 50 Index declined 0.20 per cent to 1,571.76.
On Thursday, the BSE Sensex was down 206.61 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 80,157.88, while the NSE Nifty50 fell 45.45 points, or 0.18 per cent, to settle at 24,579.60.
VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said on the global concern about uncertainty: “The market will also experience high volatility. There are potentially positive and negative news that can impact the market, going forward.”
“On the negative front, the likelihood of the 25 per cent penal tariff imposed on India getting withdrawn, is getting difficult since India has refused to accept Trump’s dictates. This means, in the short-run our exports and related jobs will continue to suffer. On the positive front, the Q1 GDP growth number at 7.8% indicates growth momentum in the economy,” Vijayakumar said.
“This will get accelerated by the coming reforms in GST. The net result of all these can be an upward revision in the earnings growth for FY26 and FY 27. This has the potential to turn FIIs into buyers in India triggering a rally in the market. This is a likely scenario which can play out in a few weeks,” Vijayakumar added.
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