Barometers trade with small gains; realty shares advance

The key equity barometers continued to trade with minor gains in mid-morning trade. The Nifty hovered above the 22,850 mark. Realty shares extended gains for the second consecutive trading session.

At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 129 points or 0.17% to 75,430.26. The Nifty 50 index added 53.90 points or 0.24% to 22,888.20.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.40% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.50%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,886 shares rose and 897 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index rose 2.05% to 839.15. The index declined 5.28% in the past two consecutive trading sessions.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers (up 10.74%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 5.62%), Macrotech Developers (up 3.5%), Godrej Properties (up 3.28%), Oberoi Realty (up 2.71%), DLF (up 2.07%), Sobha (up 1.51%), Brigade Enterprises (up 1.25%) advanced.

On the other hand, Phoenix Mills (down 3.38%) and Raymond (down 1.8%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

KDDL advanced 3.65% after the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Mahen Distribution, had acquired 874,000 partly paid-up equity shares of Silvercity Brands AG, a Switzerland-based watch company.

Bajaj Auto rose 1.38% after the companys board approved the re-appointment of Rajivnayan Rahulkumar Bajaj as the managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) for a period of five years, effective from 1 April 2025.

ESAF Small Finance Bank (SFB) added 2.58% after the bank said its board is scheduled to meet on Friday, 21 March 2025, to consider a proposal for raising funds through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) via private placement.

Global Markets:

Most Asian stocks traded higher on Wednesday, amid persistent cheer over more stimulus measures in China. However, investors remained cautious about potential further tariff actions by U.S. President Donald Trump, who reiterated threats of reciprocal trade tariffs beginning in early April. Additionally, attention was focused on negotiations for a U.S.-brokered Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

Japanese markets were in focus for investors as the Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady at 0.5%, in line with expectations, while assessing the potential impact of U.S. President Donald Trumps tariffs.

Traders kept a close eye on interest rate decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the day.

Japans trade balance increased less than anticipated in February, amid heightened concerns regarding U.S. trade tariffs. Trade balance rose to a surplus of 584.5 billion yen ($3.91 billion), according to government data released on Wednesday. The print improved from a deficit of 2.76 trillion yen in January. The softer surplus was largely due to weaker-than-expected export growth. Exports grew 11.4% year-on-year, up from the 7.3% pace seen in January.

U.S. indices declined on Tuesday, as a two-day rebound from six-month lows largely dissipated. Tech losses contributed to the decline, as did ongoing concerns regarding higher Trump tariffs and a potential recession. At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.62%, while the S&P 500 index declined 1.07%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 1.71%.

Trump reiterated his threats to enforce reciprocal tariffs against major U.S. trading partners from April 2. He also reiterated plans for automobile and commodity tariffs. Trump has warned of some near-term economic turbulence as he carries out his agenda. Investors fear that trade-related disruptions will undermine U.S. economic growth.

Among tech decliners, NVIDIA Corporation declined by more than 3%, continuing a recent downturn, despite CEO Jensen Huang's statement that the chipmaker is well-positioned to capitalize on the shift in artificial intelligence toward inference from training. The stock fell 0.6% in after-hours trading.

Tesla Inc. recovered 1.2% in after-hours trading, following a 5.3% decline during the session, amid ongoing concerns regarding slowing sales, a deteriorating brand image, and growing public outrage over CEO Elon Musks interactions with the Trump administration.

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