Nifty barely hangs onto 24,000 as Indo-Pak tensions intensify
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Market Overview
Nifty opened with a 45-point gap up at 24,289 and quickly rose to 24,340 levels before bouncing above 24,350. However, a sharp sell-off followed, dragging the index down by nearly 300 points to below 24,000. After briefly pausing, the decline continued, with Nifty hitting a low of 23,847.85. A strong 300-point rebound between 12 and 2 PM helped stabilize the market, but in the final 90 minutes, the index drifted lower and closed at 24,039.35, down 0.85%.
While short-term sentiment remains weak due to rising India-Pakistan tensions, global cues—especially from the U.S.—remain strong. FII inflows, a weaker dollar, and easing trade tensions continue to support markets. Attention now turns to the upcoming U.S. Fed meeting for further direction.
Broader Market Performance:
The broader market had an extremely weak close today, with 2,947 stocks traded on the NSE. Of these, 455 advanced, 2,428 declined, and 64 remained unchanged.
Sectoral Performance:
The top-gaining sector for the day was Nifty IT, which closed up by 0.72%. On the other hand, Nifty Media was the worst performer, ending the day down by 3.24%.
Out of the 12 sectoral indices, only 1 closed in the green, while 11 ended in the red, indicating broad-based selling across the market.
Note: The above numbers for Commodity futures were taken around 5 pm. Here’s the trend from the last 5 days:
Change in OI for the day
The following is the change in OI for Nifty contracts expiring on 30th April:
The maximum Call Open Interest (OI) is observed at 24,500, followed closely by 24,300, indicating strong resistance at these levels.
The maximum Put Open Interest (OI) is 24,000, followed by 23,800, suggesting strong support at 24,000 and additional support at 23,800.
Note: OI is subject to multiple interpretations, but generally, an increase in the call OI indicates resistance in a falling market, and an increase in the put OI indicates support in a rising market.
Source: Sensibull
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What’s happening in India
RBI has capped penalties for FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) violations at ₹2 lakh per contravention, replacing the earlier system of percentage-based fines. This applies to breaches like delays in export timelines, misuse of LRS funds, or gifting high-value shares without RBI approval. Dive deeper
ACC reported a 20.4% YoY decline in Q4 net profit to ₹751 crore, even as revenue rose 12.7% to ₹5,992 crore. Cement sales volume hit a record 11.9 million tonnes, and ready-mix revenue surged 32%. A ₹7.5 dividend per share was declared; FY25 profit rose 2.9% to ₹2,402 crore. Dive deeper
Axis Bank reported a marginal dip in Q4 FY25 net profit to ₹7,118 crore, while net interest income rose 6% YoY to ₹13,811 crore with a NIM of 3.97%. The board approved a ₹1 dividend, a fundraise of ₹35,000 crore via debt and ₹20,000 crore via equity. Gross NPA stood at 1.28% and net NPA at 0.33%. Dive deeper
Waaree Energies shares dropped 8.8% after the lock-in period ended for 15 crore shares, about 53% of its equity, raising supply concerns. This comes despite strong Q4 results, with net profit up 34.1% YoY and EBITDA margin improving to 23%. Dive deeper
SEBI fined Future Retail ₹10 lakh for delaying the disclosure of arbitration proceedings initiated by Amazon before SIAC in October 2020. Despite being aware by October 6, the company disclosed the matter only on November 1, following stock exchange intervention, violating LODR disclosure norms. Dive deeper
Hero Future Energies has hired JM Financial, Axis, Nomura, and Bank of America for its ₹5,000 crore IPO, up from an initial ₹3,000 crore target. The company, backed by KKR and IFC, operates a 5.2 GW renewable energy portfolio, with 43% of power offtake through SECI contracts. Dive deeper
Prestige Hotel Ventures has filed with SEBI for a ₹2,700 crore IPO, consisting of a ₹1,700 crore fresh issue and a ₹1,000 crore offer for sale. The company plans to use the proceeds for debt repayment, acquisitions, and general purposes. Dive deeper
Samsung will invest an additional ₹1,000 crore in its Sriperumbudur facility in Tamil Nadu, creating 100 new jobs. This investment expands the compressor manufacturing plant, which produces compressors for refrigerators sold in India and abroad. Dive deeper
IEX reported a 21% YoY rise in Q4 net profit to ₹117 crore, driven by higher revenue and record power volumes. Total income rose to ₹175 crore, and a ₹1.5/share final dividend was declared. FY25 profit climbed to ₹429 crore, with 121 BU traded electricity and record REC volumes. Dive deeper
Vodafone Idea has partnered with Cisco to upgrade its network using MPLS-based transport infrastructure, aiming to enhance 4G and 5G services. The collaboration will improve network reliability, scalability, and performance to handle rising data traffic. Dive deeper
Reliance Jio added 17.7 lakh subscribers in February, leading mobile additions, followed by Airtel with 15.9 lakh, TRAI data showed. Vodafone Idea and BSNL saw user losses. Jio continued to lead the wireless broadband market with 46.5 crore users, ahead of Airtel’s 28 crore. Dive deeper
What’s happening globally
Brent crude hovered around $66 on Friday, set for a weekly loss amid oversupply concerns tied to a possible Russia-Ukraine ceasefire and rising OPEC+ output. Kazakhstan signaled resistance to further cuts, while trade de-escalation between China and the US offered limited support. Dive deeper
Gold fell to $3,300 as China moved to ease trade tensions by considering tariff exemptions, dampening demand for safe-haven assets. It had touched $3,500 earlier on US economic worries. Despite the pullback, gold is up 30% YTD, with the gold-silver ratio at a decades-high. Dive deeper
The US dollar index rose above 99.5 on Friday, supported by renewed trade optimism after Trump confirmed ongoing talks with China and softened his tone on Fed Chair Powell. Additional backing came from progress with Japan and South Korea, offsetting brief pressure from dovish Fed remarks. Dive deeper
US natural gas futures fell to $2.9/MMBtu, a five-month low, amid record production, warm weather reducing heating demand, and rising storage levels. Global prices also declined as China’s LNG imports dropped 20% and India cut consumption due to cheaper coal. Dive deeper
The Bank of Russia kept its key interest rate unchanged at 21% on April 25, citing elevated but gradually easing inflation. It expects inflation to slow to 7–8% in 2025 and return to 4% by 2026, while maintaining its growth forecast at 1–2%. The central bank signalled that monetary policy will remain tight to anchor inflation. Dive deeper
US durable goods orders jumped 9.2% in March to $315.7 billion, far above expectations, driven by a surge in commercial aircraft orders. Ex-transportation, orders were flat, while core capital goods rose just 0.1%, signalling subdued business investment momentum. Dive deeper
Business confidence in Hong Kong rose slightly to -9 in Q2 2025 from -10 in Q1, with sentiment improving in retail, real estate, and manufacturing, but weakening in construction and finance. Only 9% expect better conditions, while 18% foresee a decline. Dive deeper
UK retail sales rose 0.4% in March 2025, beating forecasts of a decline, driven by strong non-food store sales, especially clothing and garden supplies. Annual sales grew 2.6%, and Q1 sales saw their biggest jump since July 2021. Dive deeper
The PBoC injected a net CNY 500 billion via its one-year MLF on April 25th, sharply up from CNY 63 billion last month. It now uses a multiple-price bidding method, moving away from a fixed rate, and is shifting focus to shorter-term tools for guiding market rates. Dive deeper
Alphabet posted a $34.5 billion profit in the latest quarter, with revenue up 12% to $90.2 billion, driven by strong growth in cloud and AI, including a 28% rise in cloud revenue. While AI investments continue, Google faces intensifying antitrust scrutiny in the US, with cases that could reshape its dominance in search and advertising. Dive deeper
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva praised policy shifts in Germany, Britain, and Argentina, calling it a "new era" for the global economy. She highlighted Germany’s fiscal expansion, Britain’s economic revival, and Argentina’s budget surplus. Despite global risks, she sees a 30% chance of recession. Dive deeper
Management chatter
In this section, we pick out interesting comments made by the management of major companies and policymakers of the Indian and Global Economy.
Lakshmi Iyer, CEO, Kotak Investment Advisors, on India’s growth outlook and bond market resilience
"We are fuelling inward-facing sectors like consumption and BFSI to drive growth, with India still poised to outperform global growth despite external risks."
"Bond yields are supported by RBI’s dovish stance, OMOs, and upcoming global index inclusions, these will act as catalysts to push yields lower over time."
"Even with global growth at 3%, India growing above 6% remains highly attractive, driven by domestic support and not overly reliant on export-led sectors." - Link
Amarendu Prakash, Chairman, SAIL, on steel imports and domestic competitiveness
"Margins of all domestic steel players have been depressed because unfairly priced imports have been coming in."
"We do face challenges as some of these imports are subsidised in their countries — we are calling for a level playing field."
"We are projecting 10% growth in steel consumption in India in FY25 and will continue improving efficiency to meet rising demand." - Link
Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google & Alphabet, on Q1 2025 performance and AI innovation
"We’re pleased with our strong results this quarter, led by Search, Cloud, and YouTube, with AI continuing to power new features and drive momentum."
"Gemini 2.5 is our most advanced AI model yet, delivering breakthroughs across reasoning, science, and coding, and now supports all 15 Google products with over half a billion users each."
"Circle to Search is now available on 250 million devices, and usage rose 40% this quarter. Multimodal AI is clearly redefining how people interact with Search." - Link
Calendars
In the coming days, we have the following significant events and corporate actions:
That’s it from us for today. We’d love to hear your feedback in the comments, and feel free to share this with your friends to spread the word!
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Hey team... could you start quarterly results snippets since the result season has started. TIA