The key equity indices traded sideways in the mid-morning trade. The Nifty hovered below the 22,550 mark. Trading was volatile due to the monthly Nifty50 F&O series expiry today. Bank shares jumped after declining for the four consecutive trading sessions.
At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 16.52 points or 0.02% to 74,.623.95. The Nifty 50 index shed 4.80 points or 0.02% to 22,542.75.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.94% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.80%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,041 shares rose and 2,646 shares fell. A total of 154 shares were unchanged.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Bank index advanced 0.61% to 48,904.70. The index declined 1.94% in the past four consecutive trading sessions.
AU Small Finance Bank (up 4.63%), IDFC First Bank (up 1.85%), IndusInd Bank (up 1.81%), Axis Bank (up 1.15%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.9%), Bank of Baroda (up 0.41%), ICICI Bank (up 0.28%) and State Bank of India (up 0.11%) advanced.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Tata Power Company fell 1.99%. The company announced that it has signed a landmark MoU with the Assam Government to develop and tie up up to 5000 MW of renewable and clean energy, with Rs 30,000 crore investments, at the Advantage Assam 2.0 event.
Mahindra EPC Irrigationd dropped 1.47%. The company announced that it has received an order worth Rs 11.79 crore from the Office of the Assistant Engineer for the supply of microirrigation systems under a community microirrigation project.
Global Market:
Most Asian shares declined on Thursday, influenced by a combination of Nvidia's earnings results and renewed US trade tariff concerns.
Nvidia, a key player in the AI sector, reported strong quarterly figures, forecasting first-quarter revenue of $43 billion, exceeding expectations of $42.05 billion. However, a projected softer-than-expected gross margin, attributed to the Blackwell production ramp-up, led to a volatile after-hours trading session, with the stock fluctuating between gains and losses. This muted investor response followed a period of consistently high expectations.
Adding to market unease, President Donald Trump announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on the European Union and reiterated that tariffs on Mexico and Canada would take effect on April 2. Contradictory statements within his announcement created confusion and uncertainty among investors.
These developments followed a flat close for U.S. stocks on Wednesday, which had already seen four consecutive days of losses. Concerns about a potential U.S. economic slowdown, reflected in weak consumer sentiment data, further contributed to the negative market sentiment.
Specifically, the S&P 500 closed unchanged at 5,956.18 points, the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.3% to 19,075.26 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 43,433.12 points.
Investors are now awaiting key economic data, including fourth-quarter gross domestic product figures due Thursday and the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, scheduled for Friday.