The headline equity indices traded with deep cuts in mid-afternoon trade, mirroring a global market rout driven by escalating trade tensions and mounting recession fears in the United States. The Nifty traded below the 22,050 mark.
Auto shares extended losses for the third consecutive trading session.
At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 2,728.37 points or 3.62% to 72,636.32. The Nifty 50 index tanked 887.15 points or 3.87% to 22,017.30.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index dropped 4.04% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index tumbled 4.91%.
Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 400 shares rose and 3,635 shares fell. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 60.94% to 22.14.
Economy:
India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves jumped $6.596 billion to $665.396 billion during the week ended March 28, according to the latest data from the RBI.
For the week ended March 28, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $6.158 billion to $565.014 billion, the RBI data released on Friday showed.
Gold reserves increased by $519 million to $77.793 billion during the week ended March 28. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were down by $65 million to $18.176 billion, the RBI said.
India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $16 million at $4.413 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Auto index slumped 4.24% to 19,719.70. The index slumped 8.02% in three consecutive trading sessions.
Bharat Forge (down 8.30%), Tata Motors (down 6.32%), Balkrishna Industries (down 4.81%), Bajaj Auto (down 4.75%), TVS Motor Company (down 4.75%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 4.51%), Samvardhana Motherson International (down 4.50%), Ashok Leyland (down 4.36%), Hero MotoCorp (down 4.07%) and Exide Industries (down 3.69%) declined.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was up 1.98% to 6.588 as compared with previous close 6.460.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 85.8350, compared with its close of 85.4400 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 June 2025 settlement rose 0.37% to Rs 88,410.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.37% to 102.64.
The United States 10-year bond yield gained 1.75% to 3.944.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2025 settlement tumbled $2.55 or 3.89% to $63.03 a barrel.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Tata Power Company dropped 4.27%. The company said that it has received approval from the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) to install a 100 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Mumbai over the next two years.
Trishakti Industries slipped 3.29%. The company announced that it has secured a significant order worth Rs 2.5 crore from Larsen & Toubro (L&T).