Financial Market Overview

Indian Rupee

The Indian rupee rebounded on Friday, gaining 0.3% against the U.S. dollar to reach 87.3025 after 12 consecutive sessions of decline or flat closing. This stabilization comes after the rupee dipped to 87.74 on Thursday, nearing its all-time low of 87.95, following new, steeper tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Indian goods. Traders indicate that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) actively intervened in both the non-deliverable forward market and the local over-the-counter spot market to support the currency, prompting traders to unwind their short positions against the rupee. This central bank action was crucial, as foreign portfolio outflows have been a persistent issue, with overseas investors being net sellers of Indian stocks for nine consecutive trading sessions, contributing to a generally weak sentiment for the rupee.

Indian Equities 

The Nifty 50 index was down by 115.45 points at 24,652.90, while the Sensex was down by 293.25 points to 80,892.33.

The Indian stock markets are experiencing a recovery today, after earlier losses. The Nifty index, initially down over 200 points, has recovered significantly and is now trading with a decline of around 30 points, below 24,850. Similarly, the Sensex, which dropped over 600 points in early trading, has bounced back to trade with a modest gain of over 50 points, despite an earlier reported decline of close to 100 points. While broader markets, including the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices, remain under pressure, the Nifty Bank has turned positive, recovering 600 points from its low. FMCG stocks are leading the rise, though Adani Enterprises, Asian Paints, and Reliance are among those still trading with losses. HEG, Kaynes, and Sagility are notable gainers and high-volume stocks today.

Major gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paint, Nestle India, Kotak Bank and losers were Sun Pharma, Mahindra and Mahindra, CIPLA, Tata Steel, JSW Steel.

Global Market

Asian market traded negative as follows:  Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is 224.33 points down at 24,549.00, Nikkei 225 is 224.82 points down at 40,845.00 and Shanghai Composite is down 13.26 points at 3,559.95.

FTSE 100 index is seen opening lower on Friday, with futures down 0.4%. The FTSE Mib, after closing down 1.6% at 40,987.69 points, is now down 232.00 points. Elsewhere in Europe, Paris's CAC 40 is down 55.80 points, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is down 206.50 points.

Wall Street traded as follows: S&P 500 went down by 23.51 points at 6,339.39, Dow Jones futures went down by 192.52 points at 43,938.46, and Nasdaq Composite futures went down by 110.00 points at 23,255.00.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude was down by 0.20 points to $71.61.