FMCG, oil & gas and consumer durables shares advanced while IT pharma and auto shares declined.

At 09:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 116.40 points or 0.15% to 77,490.03. The Nifty 50 index fell 25.95 points or 0.11% to 23,566.

The broader market outperformed frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.44% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.70%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 925 shares rose and 3,105 shares fell. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 11,111.25 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,517.70 crore in the Indian equity market on 27 March 2025, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Service rallied 4.02% after the company’s board approved the acquisition of a 45.33% stake in Effiasoft from existing shareholders Koushik Shee and Akula Krishna Rao for Rs 36.72 crore. The Board also considered the proposal for the acquisition of an additional 5.67% stake in Effiasoft from Koushik Shee and Akula Krishna Rao for Rs 4.59 crore.

Sandhar Technologies jumped 3.61% after the company has executeed a Share Purchase Agreement with South Korea-based Jinyoung Electro-Mechanics Co. for the sale of its entire stake in the joint venture, Jinyoung Sandhar Mechatronics (JSM). The decision to exit the joint venture aligns with the company’s strategic objective of streamlining its business operations and concentrating on its core competencies.

Piramal Enterprises advanced 1.35% after the company’s board approved the issuance of non-convertible debentures up to Rs 100 crore (base issue size), along with a green shoe option to retain oversubscription of up to Rs 200 crore, aggregating the total issue size to Rs 300 crore, on a private placement basis.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced 1.68% to 6.706 as compared with the previous close of 6.701.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 85.6000, compared with its close of 85.7450 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for the 4 April 2025 settlement rose 0.32% to Rs 87,785.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.04% to 104.30.

The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.53% to 4.346.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2025 settlement advanced 1 cents or 0.01% to $74.04 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Most Asian stocks declined on Friday as the latest tariff salvo from U.S. President Donald Trump stoked investor worries of an all-out trade war.

Trump moved ahead with a 25% tariff on auto imports due to kick in next week, drawing fierce criticism from politicians and industry executives across the globe and a warning from global car makers that price hikes were likely on the way.

The widening of the global trade war that Trump kicked off upon regaining the White House has jolted the markets, with shares of global automakers hit particularly hard.

Gold is up more than 17% in the first quarter of the year, heading for its best quarterly performance since 1986.

Data on Friday showed core consumer inflation in Tokyo accelerated in March, remaining above the central bank's target on steady gains in food costs. That kept alive market expectations of a near-term rate hike.

Markets in US continued to record some selling on Thursday U.S. President Donald Trump's administration that expanded the trade war to autos with its latest round of tariffs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab fell 155.09 points, or 0.37%, to 42,299.70, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab fell 18.89 points, or 0.33%, to 5,693.31 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab fell 94.98 points, or 0.53%, to 17,804.03.

The major U.S. indexes are on track for their first back-to-back monthly declines since the two-month period that ended in October 2023.