Market Wrap, March 7: Indices close flat; SENSEX down 0.01%, NIFTY50 settles above 22,500-level, Reliance Industries soars over 3%

The benchmark equity indices on Friday, March 7, closed flat after a volatile session amid ongoing concerns over US tariffs. Rallying in the heavyweight stocks like Reliance Industries helped the indices to close flat when the global market has been seeing a drop.

At close, the S&P BSE SENSEX stood at 74,332.58, down 7.51 points, or 0.01%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index ended at 22,552.50, rising 7.80 points, or 0.03%.

Market breadth was largely in favour of positives, as 1,818 stocks advanced on the NSE out of 2,988 stocks traded during the session.

Market investors maintained a wait-and-watch stance even though US President Trump on Thursday offered a one-month reprieve from his 25% tariffs on many goods imported from Mexico and Canada. But Trump is still pressing ahead with other tariffs scheduled to take effect April 2.

Globally, Asian shares were mostly lower on Friday, with Tokyo's benchmark down more than 2% after a sell-off on Wall Street. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 2.2% to 36,887.17.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng reversed early gains, dropping 0.7% to 24,204.97, while the Shanghai Composite index handed back 0.3% to 3,372.55. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.8% to 7,948.20. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.5% to 2,563.48.

The major benchmark indices in the US closed with deep cuts on Thursday as concerns grew over the impact of Trump’s trade tariffs, which could impact negatively on the already ailing US economy.

The S&P 500 tumbled 1.8% to resume its slide after a mini-recovery from the prior day clawed back some of its sharp drop over recent weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 427 points, or 1%, and the Nasdaq Composite sank 2.6% to finish more than 10% below its record set in December.

Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹2,377.32 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹1,617.80 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.

As many as 2,988 stocks traded on the NSE on Friday. Out of this, 1,818 advanced and only 1,093 stocks declined, while 77 scrips remained unchanged.

A total of 17 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 37 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 229 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 52 touched their lower circuit bands on Friday.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 13.47 levels, falling 1.85%.

On the broader market Nifty Midcap 100 settled 0.32% lower at 49,190.60 while Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 0.67% to 15,504.30 level.

Nifty Media (1.83%), Nifty Oil and Gas (0.55%), Nifty Metal (0.43%), Nifty Auto (0.24%) were the most contributing sectors on Thursday, however, Nifty Realty (-1.19%), Nifty Consumer Durables (-1.02%), Nifty IT (-0.85%), Nifty Midsmall Healthcare (-0.71%) and Nifty Midsmall IT & Telecom (-0.61%) were the biggest losers.   

As many as 20 stocks on the NIFTY50 index traded positive, while the 30 closed in red. The biggest contributors on the index were Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Bharat Electronics, Bajaj-Auto and Hindalco, climbing as much as 3.04%.

On the flip side, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Shriram Finance, Infosys and BPCL were biggest laggards, declining as much as 3.78% on the 50-share index.

The company's revenue in constant currency terms rose 18.8%. In dollar terms, the company earned revenue of $372 million.

At close, the scrip settled at ₹327 apiece, declining 2.33%. During intraday trade, shares of Gensol were trading down 5.11% on the National Stock Exchange. It had gained around 2% during the opening bell. The scrip touched its 52-week low of ₹307.25 during the day’s trade.