Market Wrap, May 7: Indices show resilience amid geopolitical tensions; SENSEX rises 106 pts, NIFTY ends above 24,400; Tata Motors surges 5%

After a volatile session, the Indian stock market on Wednesday settled with gains led by a rally in the broader market and auto sector. The market sentiment was also driven by geopolitical developments between India and Pakistan.

In retaliation to the Pahalgam attack, India carried out Operation Sindoor on Wednesday, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir after midnight.

Though investors gained some confidence post-India and the UK’s deal signing on Tuesday, they also remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting announcement.

The midcap and smallcap indices extended their gains for the second consecutive day following firms reporting healthy March quarter earnings.

Meanwhile, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹3,794.52 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Among the Asian markets, except for Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, all the other markets settled with gains. Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.14% to 36,779.66.

Singapore's Straits Times rose 0.13% to 3,865.37. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.13% and 0.54%, respectively. The Shanghai Composite closed 0.79% higher at the 3,342.67 level.

The US markets closed in the red on Tuesday with up to 1% losses on the Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P 500. However, the US futures are currently trading with gains of more than 1% across the board as the US and China agree to conduct trade talks as early as this week.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 389.83 points, or 0.95%, to 40,829.00, the S&P 500 fell 43.47 points, or 0.77%, to 5,606.91, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 154.58 points, or 0.87%, to 17,689.66.

As many as 2,902 stocks traded on the NSE on Wednesday. Out of this, 1,772 advanced and 1,049 stocks declined, while 81 scrips remained unchanged.

This indicated that the market breadth was in favour of positive.

A total of 26 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 95 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 43 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 118 touched their lower circuit bands on Wednesday.

NSE-listed firms' market capitalisation stood at ₹421.37 lakh crore at the end of the session.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 19.06 levels, marginally rising 1.38%.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index surged 1.59% to 54,287.75 levels, led by gains in Paytm, BSE Limited and Bharat Forge.

Rallies in Welspun Living, Piramal Enterprises and IIFL Finance shares contributed to the Nifty Smallcap 100 index, which settled 1.38% higher at 16,417.95 levels.

Nifty Auto was the top gainer among sectors, surging 1.66%, followed by Nifty Consumer Durables (1.18%), Nifty Realty (1.12%), Nifty Media (1.06%), Nifty Metal (0.98%) and Nifty Private Bank (0.69%).

Nifty FMCG (-0.52%) and Nifty Pharma (-0.33%) were the only losing sectors on Wednesday.

Tata Motors was the most contributing stock on the NIFTY50 index, soaring 5.18%. Jio Financial Services (2.11%), Bajaj Finance (2.04%), Shriram Finance (1.85%) and Eternal (1.65%) were the top winning stocks on the index.

On the other side, Asian Paints (-3.97%), Sun Pharma (-2.1%), Bajaj Auto (-1.26%), ITC (-1.24%) and Grasim (-1.14%) were the biggest laggards on the 50-share index.

At close, shares of the auto major settled at ₹681.80 apiece, rising 5.18%. It was the biggest contributor on NIFTY50 index.

During the intraday period, the stock was trading 7.93% higher on NSE. It had touched a day's high of ₹892.40 apiece, showing a 9.5% climb from previous close.

One97 Communications’ net loss narrowed to ₹540 crore in the January-March quarter from a loss of ₹550 crore in the same period last year. Its revenue from operations declined 16% in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2024-25 to ₹1,911 crore as against ₹2,267 crore registered in the year-ago period.

India’s largest paint maker will announce its March quarter results on May 8, 2025. The company is likely to report subdued Q4 earnings, with decline in both revenue and net profit.

Experts believe that Asian Paints may report a 1-4% year-on-year (YoY) fall in consolidated revenue to ₹8,630 to ₹8,500 crore. Net profit is projected to fall by 13-17% YoY, estimated between ₹1,050 to ₹1,100 crore. The fall in revenue and net profit are primarily attributed to lower sales volumes, a slowdown in urban consumption, and higher competition in paint sector.