Global cues offered little cheer for Indian investors on Tuesday, as uncertainty surrounding a potential India–US trade agreement and fading optimism over global growth weighed on sentiment. With the US and China moving closer on trade terms, analysts said the proposed India–US trade deal might not turn out as favourable for New Delhi as initially expected. Reports also indicated that India was considering easing import restrictions on Chinese goods, adding to market caution.
Despite a continued rally in US tech stocks driven by artificial intelligence optimism, Asian markets opened lower on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei, which slipped early in trade, later gained 0.4 percent, while Chinese and Hong Kong indices remained in the red. US futures were also trading lower, hinting at a weak handover to Asia.
Gift Nifty closed Monday night at 25,897.50 and slipped to 25,861 on Tuesday morning, suggesting a mildly negative opening for Indian equities.
European shares ended Monday in the green, led by travel, leisure, and auto stocks. The focus this week will be on financial stability reports and interest rate decisions from the Bank of England, Riksbank, and Bundesbank.
US indices closed mixed on Monday. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 rose, helped by gains in Amazon and Nvidia, while the Dow Jones ended lower. Amazon’s shares climbed 4 percent after the company signed a $3.8 billion deal with OpenAI. Nvidia gained 2 percent after receiving clearance to export chips to the UAE.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 226.19 points, or 0.48 percent, to close at 47,336.68. The S&P 500 rose 0.17 percent to 6,851.97, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.46 percent to 23,834.72.
Indian equities began November on a positive note, with benchmark indices ending marginally higher but mid cap and small cap stocks extending strong gains. After a volatile start, the market regained momentum through the session.
Except for IT, FMCG, and consumer durables, all major sectors advanced, led by realty, PSU banks, pharma, oil, and healthcare. The Nifty rose 41.25 points (0.16 percent) to 25,763.35, while the Sensex gained 39.78 points (0.05 percent) to 83,978.49. Bank Nifty jumped 0.56 percent to 58,101.45. The Nifty Midcap 100 surged 0.77 percent to 60,287.40, and the Smallcap 100 advanced 0.72 percent to 18,513.40.
Market breadth remained positive. On the BSE, 2,174 stocks advanced while 2,080 declined. FIIs were net sellers of ₹1,883.78 crore in the cash segment, while domestic institutions bought ₹3,516.36 crore worth of shares. Analysts said the Nifty would remain in a consolidation phase, with resistance at 25,900 and support near 25,640.
The Supreme Court said on Monday that the government could decide on Vodafone Idea’s pending AGR dues from 2016, a move that may allow the company significant relief. The stock jumped over 10 percent to a yearly high.
Bharti Airtel’s second-quarter revenue rose 5.4 percent, and net profit climbed 14.2 percent, beating analyst estimates. Its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom posted a 66.4 percent jump in net profit on 10.5 percent revenue growth.
Gland Pharma’s revenue grew 5.8 percent, and net profit rose 12.3 percent. TBO Tek’s revenue increased 26 percent, but profit growth was limited to 12.5 percent. Cipla announced plans to acquire Inspira Health Sciences for ₹110.65 crore.
Hero MotoCorp’s sales in October dropped 6.5 percent to 6.36 lakh units, though exports surged 42 percent to 30,979 units. Domestic sales fell 8 percent.
Gold prices continued to consolidate near $4,000 an ounce. Analysts expect the US labour market data due later this week to influence the Federal Reserve’s next rate decision. UBS expects gold to rise above $4,200 by December and reach $4,700 by the March quarter, citing central bank buying and rising ETF inflows.
On Monday, gold touched $4,030 before closing at $4,002.40 per ounce. Early Tuesday, it slipped below $3,986 before recovering slightly. In Kerala, 22-carat gold gained ₹120 to ₹90,320 per sovereign. Silver fell to $48 per ounce.
Base metals traded mixed. Copper fell 0.26 percent to $10,872.50 per tonne, while aluminium hit a three-year high at $2,906.15. Zinc and tin gained, but nickel and lead declined.
The dollar index climbed above 100, supported by expectations that the Fed would maintain its hawkish stance. The euro weakened to $1.1504, the pound to $1.3121, and the yen to 154.33 per dollar. The rupee closed one paisa weaker at 88.78 on Monday.
Crude oil remained steady, with Brent trading at $64.84 per barrel and WTI at $60.96. Natural gas prices edged up 0.5 percent to $4.23.
Cryptocurrencies fell sharply after a $100 million hack on the Ethereum network. Ether dropped 10 percent and Bitcoin slipped below $107,200. Solana declined 11 percent to $165.