Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty50 are poised to open flat on Friday as sentiment was dented by weak global cues amid lingering concerns around the impending April 2 tariff deadline. The subdued trend in GIFT Nifty Futures also indicated a flat start for domestic equity markets. At 8:05 AM, GIFT Nifty Futures were down 5 points at 23,754.

On the last day of March F&O series, the S&P BSE Sensex closed 318 points higher at 77,606, while the NSE Nifty50 rose 105 points to settle at 23,592. The market maintained uptrend throughout the day amid sustained foreign fund inflows and buying in blue-chip stocks. However, the 25% tariff on auto imports triggered sell-off in auto space, dragging index heavyweight Tata Motors by 5.5%. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained buyer with net purchase of shares worth ₹11,111.25 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net seller and sold equities worth ₹2,517.70 crore.

U.S. stocks end lower on Trump's tariff owes

In the overnight trade, all three major U.S. indices closed in red as sentiments were dented by President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on auto imports. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% each, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the losses, sliding over 0.5%. Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order imposing 25% duty on car and parts imported to America, which will begin from April 2, in sync with reciprocal tariffs.

Asian stocks sink

Tracking weak cues from Wall Street, Asian stocks witnessed sharp selling on Friday morning, led by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Investors turned cautious ahead of the upcoming ‘reciprocal tariffs’ and looming trade war. Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged over 2%, while South Korea’s KOSPI and Taiwan’s Weighted stock index fell up to 1.8%. On the other hand, Hong Kong’s Hang Sang and Singapore’s Straits Times were trading marginally higher, while China’s Shanghai Composite was trading tad lower.

Stocks to watch

Punjab & Sind Bank: The PSU lender has raised ₹1,219.39 crore via qualified institutions placement on March 27 by allotting 31.77 crore equity shares at a price of ₹38.37 per share.

Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services: The company has received its board approval to acquire a 45.33% stake in Effiasoft from existing shareholders Koushik Shee and Akula Krishna Rao for ₹36.72 crore.

Adani Green Energy: The green arm of Adani group, through its various wholly owned stepdown subsidiaries, has operationalised 396.7 MW power projects at Khavda, Gujarat.

Bharat Electronics: The company has secured additional orders worth ₹1,385 crore since March 12, taking total orders to ₹18,415 crore in the current financial year.

Raymond: The National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai (NCLT) has given nod to the scheme of arrangement between Raymond and Raymond Realty and their respective shareholders.

Jio Financial Services: The company has subscribed to 8.5 crore equity shares of Jio Payments Bank for ₹85 crore, which will be used to fund the business operations of Jio Payments Bank.

Piramal Enterprises: The board of the company has approved the issuance of non-convertible debentures up to ₹100 crore (base issue size), along with a green shoe option to retain oversubscription of up to ₹200 crore, aggregating the total issue size to ₹300 crore.

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