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Bourses continue to trade near neutral lines amid Trump’s latest tariff uncertainty
Jul-08-2025

Indian markets continued to trade near neutral lines in early afternoon session as investors assessed U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats on 14 trading partners. However, positive cues from other Asian markets and fresh foreign fund inflows provided some support to markets. Traders took note of report that Crisil Ratings in its latest report has said that debt securitisation volumes have inched up to Rs 49,000 crore during April-June 2025 (Q1FY26) as compared to Rs 45,000 crore recorded in the year-ago period. It said the total number of originators in these securitisations, wherein a lender hands over future receivables on a single or a bunch of loans to a new entity usually on a discount, was around 90. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green amid renewed uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies after he again extended the implementation of new reciprocal tariffs until at least August 1. Japan is facing tariffs of 25 percent, much lower than up to 35 percent expected earlier.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 83464.35, up by 21.85 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 83320.95 and 83561.80. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined by 0.54%, while Small cap index was down by 0.65%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.51%, Oil & Gas up by 0.12%, IT up by 0.06% and Utilities was up by 0.02%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.89%, Healthcare down by 1.07%, Telecom down by 0.97%, Auto down by 0.74% and Consumer Disc was down by 0.62% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.13%, Eternal up by 1.33%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.94%, NTPC up by 0.56% and Asian Paints up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 5.50%, Trent down by 2.16%, Sun Pharma down by 1.19%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.00% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency Crisil in its latest report estimated that India’s cement demand growth to recover to 6.5%-7.5% this fiscal (2025-2026), after falling to around 5% last fiscal (2024-2025). It added that the recovery in demand growth coupled with an uptick in realizations will lift operating profitability by around Rs 100, to a level just above the decadal average. According to Crisil, this fiscal, cement demand will be driven by a 7-8% growth in the rural housing segment, which accounts for a third of the domestic demand. It also expects rural housing demand to replace infrastructure segment as the primary demand driver this fiscal, on the back of expectations of rise in agricultural income on likely healthy monsoon. Further, higher disposable income on account of lower interest rates and tax cuts as well as benign inflation are expected to support rural housing demand. The infrastructure segment, the second-largest contributor to cement demand with around 30% share, is expected to grow at a relatively slower pace due to lower awarding of national highway projects in the previous two fiscals and muted capital outlay growth for railways.

Crisil noted that cement prices witnessed healthy uptick in the first quarter of the current fiscal and are expected to rise 2%-4% this fiscal after two consecutive years of price lull. It estimates that the operating profitability of cement makers to rise to Rs 975 - Rs 1,000 per tonne this fiscal compared to around Rs 880 per tonne last fiscal and the decadal average of around Rs 965 per tonne, led by healthy demand, improved realisations amid stable costs. Increasing proportion of competitively sourced green energy in the power mix are expected to boost some savings in power and fuel costs. This will support profitability by offsetting the Rs 20 - Rs 30 per tonne rise in raw material prices due to higher cost of limestone, fly ash and slag.

Moreover, the resultant increase in cash accrual will reduce reliance on external borrowings to fund capital expenditure. Subsequently, the net debt to EBITDA multiple is estimated to decline from a five-year peak of 1.3 times in fiscal 2025 to 1.0 - 1.2 times this fiscal, keeping credit profiles stable. Further, it added, an extended monsoon impacting construction activity or lower infrastructure spend, which can affect demand, and any adverse movement in commodity and energy prices owing to global geopolitical tensions, which may dent profitability, will need to be watched closely.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25458.10, down by 3.20 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 25424.15 and 25495.90. There were 20 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.04%, Eternal up by 1.30%, Grasim Industries up by 1.23%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.99% and Asian Paints up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 5.62%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.40%, Trent down by 2.02%, Cipla down by 1.60% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.58% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 185.92 points or 0.77% to 24,073.75, Nikkei 225 surged 101.13 points or 0.25% to 39,688.81, KOSPI increased 55.48 points or 1.78% to 3,114.95, Shanghai Composite strengthened 23.16 points or 0.66% to 3,496.29, Straits Times rose 20.79 points or 0.51% to 4,052.65 and Jakarta Composite was up by 0.14 points or 0% to 6,901.07. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted was down by 66.45 points or 0.3% to 22,362.27.
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