Markets opened on a positive note Thursday following overnight gains in global markets, as news emerged that the Trump administration is considering a one-month delay for including automakers in recently imposed tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.
The benchmark Sensex opened at 74,308.30, up from yesterday’s close of 73,730.23, while the Nifty50 started the day at 22,476.35, building on Wednesday’s close of 22,337.30. However, both indices gave up some early gains, with the Sensex trading at 73,633.44 (down 0.13 per cent) and Nifty at 22,313.15 (down 0.11 per cent) at 9.40 AM.
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“A positive opening could be seen for local markets in view of overnight recovery in US markets and subsequent gains in the Asian region amid reports the Trump presidential administration is considering a one-month delay for including automakers in freshly-imposed tariffs,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd.
In early trade, Shriram Finance led the gainers on NSE, up 2.72 per cent, followed by BPCL (2.09 per cent), Tata Steel (1.98 per cent), Asian Paints (1.63 per cent) and Hindalco (1.45 per cent). Top losers included SBI Life (-1.62 per cent), Grasim (-1.53 per cent), Britannia (-1.30 per cent), Tata Consumer (-1.22 per cent) and Trent (-1.21 per cent).
The market’s positive momentum is supported by multiple factors including the Reserve Bank of India’s announcement to inject liquidity through open market operations (OMO) and forex swaps. “RBI will conduct two OMO purchases worth ₹50,000 crore each on March 12 and March 18 and a USD/INR Buy/Sell Swap auction of $10 billion for a tenor of 36 months on March 24. This will inject more liquidity into the system,” noted Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities.
Global markets provided additional support to domestic sentiment. Wall Street indices closed higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.1 per cent and the Nasdaq up 1.5 per cent following the announcement on auto tariff exemptions. European markets surged after Germany revealed plans to exempt military and defense spending from strict fiscal rules.
“We are in a highly uncertain and volatile situation for global trade, global economy and markets. The end game of Trump’s tariff policy is unclear,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. “Trump’s latest declaration granting exemption from recently hiked tariffs to imports of Canadian and Mexican autos indicate that his intention is to negotiate from a position of strength.”
Oil prices have continued their downward trend, with Brent crude falling below $70 per barrel, hitting nearly three-year lows. “The dollar index declining to 104.3 is positive for emerging markets like India. If this trend persists the FII selling will soon stop paving the way for a market rally,” added Vijayakumar.
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Technical analysts remain cautiously optimistic about market direction. “NIFTY-50 has gained strongly as expected and the bounce can extend near to 22650 followed by 22,800 levels over the next few days,” said Vikas Jain, Head of Research at Reliance Securities. He identified 22,100 as the first level of support, followed by 21,950.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling streak for the tenth consecutive day on March 5, offloading equities worth ₹2,895 crore. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) extended their buying for the 20th day, purchasing equities worth ₹3,370 crore.
Gold remained resilient near record highs, trading at around $2,918 an ounce. “Gold has support at $2905-2888 while resistance is at $2940-2960,” said Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities at Mehta Equities Ltd.
The services sector showed strong performance, with the Services PMI expanding to 59 in February 2025 from 56.5 the previous month, counterbalancing a slowdown in manufacturing activity.
Market participants are now looking ahead to the US jobs report expected on Friday, which could provide further direction to global markets amid ongoing concerns about trade tensions and economic growth prospects.