Nifty, Sensex extend rally despite global tech rout

The key equity benchmarks eked out modest gains on Tuesday, extending their rally to a third straight session. Sentiment remained supported by the landmark India-US trade agreement, which helped ease external uncertainty. Gains, however, were capped as rising geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran kept risk appetite in check. The Nifty 50 closed above the 25,750 level, led by buying in consumer durables, energy and auto stocks, while IT shares lagged amid a global technology selloff.

The S&P BSE Sensex added 78.56 points or 0.09% to 83,817.69. The Nifty 50 index rose 48.45 points or 0.19% to 25,776. In three consecutive trading sessions, the Sensex added 3.83% while the Nifty jumped 3.82%.

Adani Ports & SEZ (up 2.25%), Reliance Industries (up 1.27%) and ICICI Bank (up 1.18%) boosted the Nifty today.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index advanced 0.61% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.54%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,726 shares rose and 1,477 shares fell. A total of 168 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, tanked 4.98% to 12.25.

RBI MPC:

The Reserve Bank of India's rate-setting panel kicked off its three-day monetary policy meeting today. The outcome of the meeting of the six-member Monetary Policy Committee, chaired by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, is scheduled to be announced on Friday.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI rose to 58.5 in January from 58.0 in December. The flash score was 59.3. A score above 50.0 indicates expansion.

The composite output index rose to 58.4 in January from December's 11-month low of 57.8, indicating that the latest sharp rate of expansion in the Indian private sector was boosted by stronger growth at goods producers as well as service providers.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper shed 0.19% to 6.708 compared with previous session close of 6.721.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 90.4475 compared with its close of 90.3200 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 2 April 2026 settlement jumped 3.25% to Rs 158,811.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.20% to 97.57.

The United States 10-year bond yield added 0.19% to 4.280.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2026 settlement rose 38 cents or 0.56% to $67.71 a barrel.

Global Markets:

The US Dow Jones index futures are currently up by 136 points, signaling a strong opening for US stocks today.

European stocks traded higher on Wednesday as Euro zone inflation cooled to 1.7% in January, flash data from statistics agency Eurostat showed Wednesday. Core inflation, which excludes more volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, stood at 2.2% in January, a touch down from the 2.3% seen in the year to December.

The latest data shows the key inflation rate has now dipped below the European Central Banks 2% target. Its likely to steer clear of any more rate cuts for the foreseeable future.

Asian indices ended higher, bucking the weak lead from Wall Street where a sell-off in U.S. technology stocks dampened sentiment, while gold extended its gains for a second straight session.

Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 pulled back as investors dumped technology stocks and moved into shares more broadly linked to improvements in the economy.

The broad market index fell 0.84% and closed at 6,917.81. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 166.67 points, or 0.34%, to end at 49,240.99. Earlier, the 30-stock index rose as much as 0.5% to touch 49,653.13, a new record. The Nasdaq Composite shed 1.43%, settling at 23,255.19.

Stocks in Spotlight:

IT stocks came under sharp pressure on Wednesday amid a global technology selloff after AI firm Anthropic unveiled new automation tools, stoking fears of AI-led disruption to traditional, licence-driven business models.

The Nifty IT index tanked 5.87% to 36,345.65. The index rallied 1.41% in the previous trading session.

Infosys slipped 7.37% and Tata Consultancy Services fell 6.99%. Coforge declined 6.02%, while LTIMindtree slipped 5.84%. Persistent Systems dropped 4.76% and Mphasis lost 4.59%. HCL Technologies shed 4.58%, Tech Mahindra declined 4.52%, Oracle Financial Services Software fell 4.06%, while Wipro ended 3.79% lower.

Bajaj Finserv (BFS) rose 0.30%. The company reported a 0.08% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,229.15 crore on 29.93% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 39,708.06 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

Bajaj Finance shed 0.12%. The company reported a 6% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,977.85 crore despite 17.63% jump in total revenue from operations to Rs 21,213.89 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

Teamlease Services rallied 5.32% after the companys consolidated net profit climbed 46.75% to Rs 41.72 crore on 3.14% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 3,012.95 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

Kansai Nerolac Paints fell 2.61% after its standalone net profit tanked 75.08% to Rs 131.20 crore in Q3 FY26, compared with Rs 526.49 crore in Q3 FY25. However, revenue from operations rose 3.53% to Rs 1,907.35 crore in Q3 FY26 as against Rs 1,842.16 crore posted in the same quarter last year.

Sheela Foam surged 14.53% after the companys consolidated net profit soared 211.97% to Rs 52.13 crore on 11.1% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 1,074.43 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

ADF Foods surged 8.80% after the company reported 55.7% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 29.2 crore on a 29.5% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 191 crore in Q3 FY26 as compared with Q3 FY25.

The Anup Engineering dropped 6.52% after the companys consolidated net profit declined 15.5% year-on-year to Rs 25.53 crore in Q3 FY26, compared with Rs 30.21 crore posted in Q3 FY25. However, revenue from operations rose 20.5% YoY to Rs 206.92 crore during the quarter ended 31 December 2025, as against Rs 171.74 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Century Plyboards (India) declined 5% after the companys consolidated net profit fell 8.37% to Rs 65.05 crore on a 2.57% drop in total income to Rs 495.53 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q2 FY26. On a year-on-year basis, the companys net profit and revenue rose 10.55%, while total income increased 18.29% in Q3 FY26.

Emami advanced 1.06% after the company reported 14.5% increase in consolidated to Rs 319.48 crore on a 9.8% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 1,151.81 crore in Q3 FY26 as compared with Q3 FY25.

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