Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty end flat ahead of U.S. GDP, inflation data; Bajaj twins, Trent, Tata Motors, SBI lead fall

The Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed flat with marginal losses on Wednesday, ending two sessions gaining streak, as investors booked profit at higher levels. The broader market saw surge in selling as market sentiment was dented by rising tensions between India and Pakistan and muted Q4 results. The market turned cautious ahead of the key U.S. economic data (Q1 GDP and retail inflation for March) set to be released tonight.

The BSE Sensex dropped 46.14 points, or 0.06%, to settle at 80,242.24, and the NSE Nifty50 slide marginally by 1.75 points, or 0.01%, to close at 24,334.20. On the other hand, the Nifty Smallcap100 and Nifty Midcap100 indices plunged 1.71% and 0.85%, respectively.

On the sectoral front, Nifty bank, IT, and metal indices ended in red, while pharma and oil & gas were top performers, gaining in the range of 0.4-0.6%. Among others, Infra, FMCG, realty and energy indices also ended in the green zone.

The top five losers on the Nifty50 were Bajaj Finance , Bajaj Finserv , Trent , Tata Motors , and State Bank of India , while HDFC Life, Bharti Airtel , Maruti Suzuki India , SBI Life, and Sun Pharma were among notable gainers.  

Bajaj group companies - Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv – tumbled up to 7% intraday as investors booked profits after they released their March quarter earnings report.

Shares of Paras Defence and Space Technologies surged nearly 10% on Wednesday, continuing rally for the third straight session, as investors rushed to buy stock ahead of its March quarter earnings report.

Negative bias to persist in near term, says analyst

The market experts opine that negative bias is expected to persist in the near term amid heightened India-Pakistan border tensions, following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

“This negative bias is expected to persist in the near term, but the long-term outlook remains positive due to the minimal financial impact from the conflict. Consequently, any market consolidation is likely to be used as an investment opportunity," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.

Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial, says market sentiment remains cautious due to the ongoing India-Pakistan geo-political concerns. “We expect the market to trade in a range-bound manner with stock/sector specific action, driven by Q4 earnings announcements.”

He said that investors will watch out for U.S. manufacturing PMI and Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision tomorrow, while the Indian markets will remain closed on account of Maharashtra & Labour Day.

Technically, Nifty is expected to extend consolidation in the range of 24,550-23,800. With 23,800 being the confluence of last week’s low and recent breakout area. While 24,550 is the 61.8% retracement of the entire decline (26,277-21,744), said Bajaj broking in a note.   

“We believe the current consolidation will help the index work off the overbought condition developed after the recent strong rally. Stock specific action will continue to remain in focus as we progress through the Q4 earnings season,” it added.

The brokerage house believes that volatility is expected to stay elevated due to ongoing geopolitical tensions, developments related to tariffs, and the unfolding Q4 earnings season and major U.S. economic data points.

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