IGI Logo

Indian equity benchmarks are likely to make a cautious start on Tuesday, the first trading session of the new financial year. Furthermore, volatility is expected later in the day ahead of the U.S. reciprocal tariff announcements on its trading partners, set to be imposed on Wednesday, April 2. Investors will be looking ahead to the manufacturing PMI data to be out later in the day.

Some of the key factors to be watched:

Key infra sectors growth slows to 2.9% in February: The output of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to a five-month low of 2.9 per cent in February, as against 7.1 per cent growth registered a year ago. 

India’s current account deficit remains unchanged at 1.1% of GDP in Q3FY25: India’s current account deficit was unchanged at 1.1 percent of the GDP, even as it rose in value terms to $11.5 billion in the third quarter of the year compared with $10.4 billion during a similar period last year.

India, Japan ink loan agreements: India and Japan have inked loan agreements worth 191.736 billion Japanese yen for six projects, including forest management, water supply, urban transport, and aquaculture.

India's foreign exchange reserves rise to $658.8 billion: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report showed that India's foreign exchange reserves rose $4.529 billion to $658.800 billion in the week that ended on March 21, extending gains for the third straight week.

Cabinet approves Rs 22,919 crore scheme for electronics component: Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Union Cabinet approved an Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme for passive or non-semiconductor electronics components with an outlay of Rs 22,919 crore.

Auto industry stocks will be in focus: Traders will be looking ahead to the automobile sales and production data to be out later in the day.

On the global front: The US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday, even though traders are worried that Trump's tariffs and possible retaliatory actions by targeted countries will fuel inflation, keep interest rates elevated and drag down global economic growth. Most of the Asian markets are trading in green as traders reacted to the actions taken by China to counter the effects of deflation and a slew of upbeat GDP and PMI data from the region. 

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Friday amid volatility, mirroring weak trends in global markets as tariff worries mounted and investors awaited a key U.S. inflation reading for directional cues. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 191.51 points or 0.25% to 77,414.92, and the CNX Nifty was down by 72.60 points or 0.31% to 23,519.35.  

Some of the important factors in trade: 

Oil retreats amid tariff worries: Oil prices were set for a third weekly gain as the U.S. ramped up pressure on Venezuela and Iran, though worries over whether Washington's tariff war could curb demand weighed on markets. 

RBI may cut rates by 25 bps in April: India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said that the RBI's monetary policy committee is expected cut benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points in its policy review meeting next month to push growth.

Credit to industry grows 7.3% as on fortnight ended February 21: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report has showed that credit to industry recorded a growth of 7.3 per cent (y-o-y) as on the fortnight ended February 21, 2025, compared with 8.4 per cent for the corresponding fortnight of the previous year. 

Above views are of the author and not of the website kindly read disclaimer