Mumbai, February 25 – Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty trimmed early gains to close marginally higher on Wednesday in a volatile session as the US imposing 126% import duties on Indian solar goods dampened investor sentiment and triggered profit-taking.
The 30-share BSE Sensex, retreating around 674 points from the day's high, finally ended 50.15 points or 0.06% higher at 82,276.07. During the day, it jumped 731.99 points or 0.89% to a high of 82,957.91.
The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 57.85 points or 0.23% to settle at 25,482.50. It hit a high of 25,652.60 during the day, up by around 228 points from the last close.
HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, InterGlobe Aviation, Sun Pharma, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, and Tech Mahindra were among the biggest gainers in the Sensex.
TCS rose by 2.14% after the IT services giant stated that it was "not afraid" of artificial intelligence and is also comfortable with revenue "cannibalization" through the deployment of AI tools by its associates.
Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, and Adani Ports were among the laggards.
In the broader market, solar sector shares plunged more than 14% after the US announced a preliminary countervailing duty of nearly 126% on imports of certain Indian solar goods, alleging that these products are unfairly subsidized by New Delhi.
Waaree Energies tumbled 10.47%, Premier Energies dropped 6.27%, Vikram Solar declined 5.45%, and Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy dipped 1.05%.
"Equity markets advanced on Wednesday, supported by positive global cues, even as risk sentiment remained cautious against the backdrop of trade-related uncertainties. Domestically, sentiment was dampened after the US Commerce Department imposed a preliminary duty of 126% on solar imports from India, citing unfair manufacturing subsidies that enabled exporters to undercut US producers," Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.
The BSE smallcap select index went up by 0.59% and midcap select index advanced 0.37%.
Among sectoral indices, metal jumped the most by 2.64%, followed by auto (1.82%), BSE Focused IT (1.53%), commodities (1.49%), healthcare (1.35%), and consumer discretionary (0.74%).
Telecommunication, energy, FMCG, and realty were the laggards.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Shanghai's SSE Composite index, Japan's Nikkei 225, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended significantly higher.
Markets in Europe were trading in positive territory. The US market ended higher on Tuesday.
"Indian equity markets ended the session on a cautious note after a volatile day of trade. Despite a positive start, benchmark indices gradually pared early gains as profit-booking at higher levels weighed on sentiment," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 102.53 crore on Tuesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 3,161.22 crore, according to exchange data.
"Indian markets opened with a gap-up, driven by upbeat global cues and a rebound in US tech stocks as AI-related uncertainty eased. Additionally, dovish signals from the BoJ supported regional sentiment, keeping Asian markets firm," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Brent Crude, the global oil benchmark, dipped 0.14% to USD 70.67 per barrel.
On Tuesday, the Sensex plummeted 1,068.74 points or 1.28% to settle at 82,225.92. The Nifty fell 288.35 points or 1.12% to close at 25,424.65.
