Ahead of Market: 10 things that will decide stock market action on Wednesday

The Indian stock market ended lower on Tuesday, as widespread losses in financial and pharma stocks eclipsed gains in Mahindra & Mahindra, which surged on optimism over its earnings outlook, as well as advances in heavyweights Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel.

The benchmark BSE Sensex shed 155.77 points or 0.19% to close at 80,641.07, while the broader Nifty 50 index closed at 24,379.60, lower by 81.55 points or 0.33%.

Here's how analysts read the market pulse:

The domestic market has been consolidating in recent sessions following the strong recovery, driven by cautious sentiment amid India-Pakistan border tensions, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, adding that weak earnings growth for the current quarter has further impacted the market.


"Small-cap and mid-cap stocks have underperformed compared to benchmark indices. Meanwhile, investors are closely monitoring India's bilateral trade negotiations with the US. Additionally, speculation around the US Federal Reserve is drawing attention, as no rate cuts are expected in the near term, affecting global trends," said Nair.

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US markets

U.S. stocks declined on Tuesday as investor concerns resurfaced over President Donald Trump's plan to impose new tariffs on pharmaceutical imports in the coming weeks. The announcement, coupled with lackluster corporate earnings, dampened market sentiment.Shares of Eli Lilly and Merck dropped around 2.4% each, while Pfizer fell 1.7%, erasing optimism from Trump's separate move to speed up approval for pharmaceutical plants.

The tariff uncertainty continues to cloud outlooks for consumers, companies, and even the Federal Reserve, leading to increased caution across the board.

Ford, the latest major firm to suspend its annual forecast, reversed early losses and rose about 1% in volatile trading.

European stocks

Europe's STOXX 600 was down 0.7% on Tuesday but remains close to its closing level on April 2, the day Trump announced his tariff proposals.

Germany's DAX fell by as much as 2% but was last down about 1.3%. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.3%.

Investor attention remains on the possibility of easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China after Beijing last week said it was evaluating an offer from Washington to hold talks over tariffs.

Tech View

The Nifty ended with a bearish candlestick on the daily chart, indicating a firm resistance near the 24,500 mark as market participants stayed cautious ahead of the Fed meeting and Indo-Pakistan tensions, said Vatsal Bhuva, Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, adding that key support lies in the 24,250–24,200 zone.

“Technically, a directional trend will emerge only after a decisive move above 24,500 or a close below 24,200. Until then, the index is likely to trade in a range. With the Fed outcome now released, a directional move could unfold in the upcoming sessions," said Bhuva.

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Most active stocks in terms of turnover

Reliance Industries Ltd (Rs 1,999 crore), Coforge (Rs 1,767 crore), Mahindra & Mahindra (Rs 1,760 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 1,689 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,633 crore), BSE (Rs 1,603 crore) and Polycab India (Rs 1,567 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.

Most active stocks in volume terms

YES Bank (Traded shares: 48.07 crore), Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 39.81 crore), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 5.96 crore), Bank of Baroda (Traded shares: 5.35 crore), Reliance Power (Traded shares: 4.39 crore), Tata Steel (Traded shares: 4.26 crore) and Vishal Mega Mart (Traded shares: 3.31 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Shares of CCL Products, Poly Medicure, Chambal Fertilisers, Godrej Agrovet, Ceat, Newgen Software and R R Kabel were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

52 Week high

Over 63 stocks hit their 75 week highs today while 78 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52 week highs included Bharti Airtel.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Bank of Baroda, Sonata Software, Vedant Fashions, Union Bank India, Niva Bupa Health Insurance, Bank of India and Railtel Corp.

Sentiment meter bearish

The market sentiments were bearish. Out of the 4,072 stocks that traded on the BSE on Tuesday, 3,209 stocks witnessed declines, 742 saw advances, while 121 stocks remained unchanged.

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(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)