Indian equity markets entered into green terrain in afternoon session but failed to hold their gains and again slipped below neutral lines to trade marginally lower in late afternoon session. The persistent selling by foreign institutional investors weighed on investors’ sentiments. The FIIs were the net sellers on Tuesday’s trade, offloading equities worth Rs 1,067.01 crore. Further, traders paid no heed towards Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal saying that India and the US are holding continuous discussions for the proposed bilateral trade agreement. He said ‘Talks are going well...and are continuously going on. There are many sensitive issues, many serious issues, so it is natural that it will take some time’. Moreover, market participants remained cautious amid uncertainty about Federal Reserve’ future interest rate cut and ongoing US government shutdown. 

On the global front, all Asian equity markets were trading higher amid upbeat US economic data. European equity markets were trading lower ahead of Bank of England’s interest rate decision.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 83432.82, down by 26.33 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 83330.85 and 83846.35. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.94%, while Small cap index was down by 1.27%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 0.06%, IT up by 0.04% and Auto up by 0.03%, while Utilities down by 2.09%, Metal down by 2.06%, Power down by 1.82%, Basic Materials down by 1.63%, Realty down by 1.20% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 4.66%, Reliance Industries up by 1.60%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.00%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.90% and TCS up by 0.74%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 2.92%, Eternal down by 2.50%, NTPC down by 1.41%, Tata Steel down by 1.37% and Bharat Electronics down by 1.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturing capacity in India is likely to increase to over 165 GW by March 2027 from around 109 GW at present, led by strong policy support in the form of the approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM), which effectively barred the direct import of modules, along with the imposition of basic customs duty on imported cells & modules, and the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. The implementation of ALMM List-II for solar PV cells from June 2026 has spurred the ongoing expansion of cell manufacturing capacity by module original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India, which is likely to increase to about 100 GW by December 2027 from 17.9 GW currently under ALMM.

According to the report, the industry is poised to face a potential overcapacity scenario as the annual solar capacity installation is expected at 45-50 gigawatt direct current (GWdc) against an annual solar module production of 60-65 GW. Further, the recent imposition of US tariffs has adversely impacted the export volumes, posing new challenges for the industry as the modules have been redirected from the export market to the domestic market. Hence, the overcapacity in module production is likely to result in a consolidation of the smaller/pureplay module players. However, ICRA anticipates the vertically integrated manufacturers to benefit over the long term due to greater control over the supply chain.

ICRA also noted that all projects wherein the last date of bid submission is prior to September 1, 2025, translating into a solar project pipeline of 45-50 GW, will be exempted from the requirement of using solar PV cells under ALMM List-II even if their date of commissioning is after June 1, 2026. This will support the order book of OEMs without cell manufacturing capacity in the near term. Nevertheless, the bidding activity has slowed down in the last few months, which remains a key monitorable. 

It further said the solar PV manufacturing supply chain is dominated by China, with over 90% share in the global manufacturing capacity across polysilicon and wafer, over 85% share in cells and around 80% share in modules. Given the dependence on China for the sourcing of wafers and ingots, any potential geopolitical restrictions on the supply of technology/machinery in setting up backward integration facilities for domestic OEMs over the medium term remains a key monitorable. Moreover, each successive stage in the value chain demands higher technological complexity, which not only requires substantial capital investment but also heightens the risks associated with project stabilisation and implementation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25553.85, down by 43.80 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 25515.95 and 25679.15. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 4.78%, Reliance Industries up by 1.59%, Interglobe Aviation up by 1.38%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.13% and Wipro up by 1.00%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 5.77%, Hindalco down by 5.69%, Adani Enterprises down by 4.15%, Power Grid Corporation down by 3.01% and Eternal down by 2.65% were the top losers.

All Asian equity markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 702.73 points or 1.38% to 50,915.00, Hang Seng advanced 537.59 points or 2.03% to 26,473.00, Taiwan Weighted added 182.39 points or 0.65% to 27,899.45, Straits Times rose 58.55 points or 1.33% to 4,475.67, Shanghai Composite strengthened 38.51 points or 0.96% to 4,007.76, Jakarta Composite gained 33.34 points or 0.4% to 8,351.87 and KOSPI increased 22.03 points or 0.55% to 4,026.45.

European equity markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 19.33 points or 0.2% to 9,757.75, France’s CAC fell 41.53 points or 0.51% to 8,032.70 and Germany’s DAX lost 71.74 points or 0.3% to 23,978.00.