The key equity indices pared some early gains and traded with limited upside in morning trade, as the market witnessed some profit booking. The Nifty slipped below the 24,250 mark. IT shares jumped after declining in the past trading session.
At 10:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex added 172.58 points or 0.24% to 79,781.13. The Nifty 50 index rose 39.55 points or 0.19% to 24,213.15.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.04% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.57%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,494 shares rose and 2,029 shares fell. A total of 197 shares were unchanged.
Politics:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to New Delhi on Wednesday morning, cutting short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, following a devastating terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
At least 26 people, including two foreign nationals, were killed in what is being described as one of the deadliest attacks in the region in recent years. The strike occurred around 2:30 PM on Tuesday, when a group of heavily armed terrorists—disguised in military fatigues—opened fire on tourists gathered at Baisaran meadow, a popular scenic spot in Pahalgam.
The rare and brazen assault has sent shockwaves through the nation, with security forces launching a massive operation to track down the perpetrators.
Economy:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday slashed India’s FY26 GDP growth projection to 6.2%, down from its earlier estimate of 6.5%, citing growing global trade tensions and economic uncertainty following the United States’ recent tariff imposition.
The downward revision comes as the U.S. levies a 26% tariff on imports from India, casting a shadow over India's trade outlook and prompting the IMF to temper its expectations. The FY27 growth forecast has also been dialed back to 6.3% from the earlier projection of 6.5%.
China’s growth outlook for 2025 has been cut to 4%, down from 4.6%, reflecting continued challenges in its property sector and weakening global demand. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is projected to slow to 1.8%, a sharp decline from the 2.7% forecast in the IMF's January 2025 World Economic Outlook (WEO) update.
Earnings Today:
Tata Consumer Products (up 0.07%), 360 ONE WAM (up 2.62%), Astec Lifesciences(up 0.79%), Bajaj Housing Finance(down 1.14%), Can Fin Homes(down 0.94%), LTIMindtree(up 3.81%), Dalmia Bharat(down 1.17%), Maharashtra Scooters(up 0.20%), Rallis India(down 0.47%), Tips Music(down 1.41%), Thyrocare Technologies(down 2.92%), Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (down 1.34%) will declare their result later today.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index jumped 3.23% to 35,037.15. The index declined 0.57% in the past trading session.
HCL Technologies (up 6.6%), Coforge (up 4.81%), Tech Mahindra (up 4.54%), LTIMindtree (up 4.4%), Mphasis (up 3.77%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 3.48%), Infosys (up 3.35%), Persistent Systems (up 3.35%), Wipro (up 2.54%) and Tata Consultancy Services (up 2.11%) surged.
HCL Technologies rallied 6.6% after the company has reported 6.2% fall in net income to Rs 4,307 crore on a despite a 1.2% increase in revenues to Rs 30,246 crore in Q4 FY25 as compared with Q3 FY25.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Delta Corp shed 0.63% after the company’s consolidated net profit zoomed 127.26% to Rs 164.56 crore in Q4 FY25 as against Rs 72.41 crore posted in Q4 FY24. However, revenue from operations declined 1.20% to Rs 184.87 crore in Q4 FY25, compared with Rs 182.65 crore posted in Q4 FY24.
Havells India declined 2.98%. The company’s standalone net profit gained 16.35% to Rs 522.26 crore on a 20.2% increase in revenue to Rs 6,532.21 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q4 FY24.