Will Operation Sindoor and India-Pakistan tensions impact Sensex, Nifty today? Key stocks to watch 

The Indian equity benchmarks, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, are set to open lower on Wednesday, mirroring weakness in GIFT Nifty futures. At 8:40 AM, the GIFT Nifty index was down 39 points, or 0.16%, at 24,376, signaling gap-down opening for the domestic equity benchmarks. According to market analysts, the domestic market may see some consolidation following the strong recovery, driven by cautious sentiment amid escalating India-Pakistan tensions and the launch of Operation Sindoor by India, targeting terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. 

Weak earnings growth for the current quarter has further impacted the performance of the equity market.

Shares of aviation companies IndiGo and SpiceJet along with defence stocks such as HAL, BEL, Mazagon Dock, Data Patterns, and Paras Defence will be keenly watched after India early today carried out Operation Sindoor hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Hotel stocks such as ITC Hotels, Lemon Tree Hotels, TAJ GVK, Indian Hotels, Chalet Hotels, Mahindra Holidays, and Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels will be in focus as hotel cancellations are likely to surge amid the India-Pakistan conflict. Among others, Jammu and Kashmir Bank shares will be eyed after escalated military conflict between India and Pakistan and surgical strikes in PoK.

The Street will also react to the quarterly earnings reports of Godrej Consumer Products, One 97 Communications, Mahanagar Gas, BSE, KEI Industries, Piramal Enterprises, HPCL, Aarti Drugs, Aptus Value Housing Finance, and Kansai Nerolac Paints.

Today, Coal India, Punjab National Bank, Dabur India, Tata Chemicals, United Breweries, Voltas, MRF, Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company, APL Apollo Tubes, Blue Star, CarTrade Tech, Housing & Urban Development Corporation, Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers, Sapphire Foods India, Satin Creditcare Network, Sonata Software, Symphony, and Wonderla Holidays are set to release their March quarter earnings reports.

On Tuesday, the domestic bourses ended lower for the second straight session amid sharp sell-off in mid-cap and small-cap stocks. The BSE Sensex closed 155.77 points lower at 80,641, and the NSE Nifty50 fell 81.55 points to settle at 24,380. The broader markets were worst hit, with the Nifty Midcap100 and Smallcap100 indices crashing by 2.27% and 2.50%, respectively. On the IPO front, shares of electric two-wheeler maker Ather Energy made its debut on the domestic bourses, ending 7.2% lower below its issue price at ₹300.75 apiece on the BSE.

Wall Street extends fall ahead of Fed policy

In overnight trade, all three major U.S. benchmark indices ended in the red, extending its losing streak for the second straight session as caution prevailed in the market ahead of the Federal Reserve policy decision. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1%.

The two-day Federal Reserve meeting started on Tuesday and a policy decision is set to be announced later in the evening where the U.S. central bank is widely expected to keep interest rate unchanged. This is going to be the first Fed policy meeting after President Trump's announcement to impose hefty tariffs on leading trading partners, notably China, in early April. 

Asian stocks rise on U.S.-China trade talks

Share markets in the Asia-Pacific region witnessed positive trade on Wednesday amid hopes of easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. The sentiment was lifted on confirmation that the world’s two largest economies will hold talks to sort out trade disputes.

Cheering the news, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallied over 1%, while China’s Shanghai Composite climbed nearly 0.5% in early trade. Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite was up 0.9%, while South Korea’s Kospi and Taiwan Weighted index traded higher with marginal gains. On the other hand, Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Singapore’s Straits Times were trading lower with marginal losses. Meanwhile, Australia’s ASX 200 ended 0.2% higher.