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Below the Quote on Daily Market Commentary by Mr. Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Indian equities opened flattish and slipped into the red, with Nifty50 declining 182 points (0.8%) to close at 23,487. The downturn came as investors engaged in profit-booking, awaiting clarity on impending U.S. reciprocal tariffs to be announced on 2nd April. Focus is now on the US-India trade meet which began today and involves negotiations on a Bilateral Trade Agreement between the two nations. There would be continued nervousness around the meeting outcome till its conclusion on Saturday. The broader market witnessed selling pressure for the second consecutive day as Nifty Midcap100 and Smallcap100 indices declined by 0.7% and 1% respectively. On the sectoral front, Oil & Gas, Realty and Banking indices plunged between 1-2%, followed by Pharma and Healthcare indices which fell by 1% each on tariff-related concerns. Investor sentiments were further dampened by a sharp decline in US consumer confidence in March, which fell to a 4-year low of 92.9 from 100.1 in the prior month amid ongoing concerns about a tariff-induced slowdown. On the positive side, FII buying sustained for the fourth consecutive session on Tuesday with inflows of Rs5370 crore, which provided some relief to the market. We expect the market to remain range-bound with stock/sector specific action on the back of developments around the US India trade meet during the week.

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