Stock Market Today: All You Need To Know Going Into Trade On March 5

Stocks in the Asia Pacific region traded mixed early on Wednesday, on the tariff relief signal after President Donald Trump sparked a global selloff.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.04%, or 17 points to 37,347, while Australia's S&P ASX 200 was down 1.03% at 8,113 as of 6:45 a.m. Stocks on Wall Street recovered after erasing all gains made this year as US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick signalled a tariff compromise with Canada and Mexico.

Canada and China responded to Trump with retaliatory measures after the US decided to proceed with levies against Canada and Mexico on Tuesday. Meanwhile, China's commerce ministry "strongly" opposed the tariff measures and "hoped" that the US would handle issues objectively and rationally.

Future contracts in China pointed at a flat start and will remain in focus as the country maintains its economic growth goal at about 5% for 2025, — the third consecutive year — raising expectations for officials to unleash more stimulus. China also set this year's fiscal deficit target at around 4% of gross domestic product, according to the report seen by Bloomberg.

Wall Street saw a volatile session but recovered its losses in late hours. The S&P 500 tumbled 1.22%, while the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.35%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 1.55% on Tuesday.

Crude oil prices continued to trade lower as OPEC+ signalled plans to revive halted production along with hopes of ease in tariff measures. The Brent crude was down 0.23% at $70.88 a barrel as of 7:00 a.m. IST, and the West Texas Intermediate was down 0.72% at $67.77.

The benchmark equity indices extended their losing streak to the longest in 29 years, ending lower on Tuesday. Auto, IT, and FMCG stocks saw the steepest declines.

The NSE Nifty 50 closed 36.65 points, or 0.17%, lower at 22,086.2, while the BSE Sensex slipped 96.01 points, or 0.13%, to 72,989.9.

Foreign portfolio investors remained net sellers for the ninth consecutive session, offloading Indian equities worth approximately Rs 3,405.8 crore on Tuesday. Domestic institutional investors continued their buying spree for the 19th straight session, purchasing stocks worth Rs 4,851.4 crore, according to provisional NSE data.

Stocks To Watch

• Coforge: The firm signed a 13-year partnership contract with Sabre Corp. worth $1.56 billion in order to boost product innovation and delivery.

• Adani Wilmar: Adani Wilmar inked a definitive agreement with GD Foods Manufacturing (India) Pvt. to acquire the owner of household cooking brand Tops.

• ONGC, PTC India: ONGC's subsidiary acquires a 100% stake in PTC Energy for Rs 925 crore, divesting PTC India's entire holding.

• Ola Electric Mobility: IFCI issues notice on missing the deadline under the PLI scheme for its Tamil Nadu gigafactory.

• GE Vernova T&D India: The firm received orders worth Rs 500-crore from Power Grid for the supply and installation of transformers and reactors according to a bulk procurement deal.

• Ambuja Cements: The CCI approves its acquisition of Orient Cement.

• Rail Vikas Nigam: The firm received a letter of award for Rs 729.8 crore from Himachal Pradesh Electricity Board.

• Power Grid: The company was declared a successful bidder for three interstate transmission system projects under the build, own, operate and transfer basis.

• Grasim Industries: The firm started commercial production at its Birla Opus Paints plant in Mahad, Maharashtra, increasing installed capacity to 1,096 million litres per annum.

• Star Cement: The company was declared preferred bidder for the North Boro Hundong Limestone Block (Part – A) in e-auctions conducted by the Assam government.

• Avenue Supermarts: The company opened a new store at Kodad, Suryapet, Telangana, taking its total store count to 392.

• Sun TV Network: The firm is scheduled to consider an interim dividend for fiscal 2025 on March 7.

• ABB India: The company made a strategic investment in AI startup UptimeAI through ABB Motion Ventures in order to improve industrial customer experience.

• Marsons: Wins an order worth Rs 9.49 crore from Inox Wind for the supply of a 160 MVA 220 kV class EHV Power Transformer.

• Apollo Hospitals: Plans to commission a comprehensive oncology centre, including India's first Proteus One Proton System, for Rs 250 crore over the next three years.

• Nava: Buyback of 7.2 million shares at Rs 500 per share opens on March 6 and closes on March 12, totaling Rs 360 crore.

• Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services: Pradeep Kumar Agrawal to take over as the CFO on March 5; Animesh Chatterjee to continue as head of treasury.

• Force Motors: Total sales rose 46.28% YoY to 3,600 units, while exports declined 16.84% YoY to 79 units in February.

• JSW Energy: The CCI approves acquisition of KSK Mahanadi Power under NCLT-approved resolution plan.

• Biocon: Arm receives US FDA approval for Lenalidomide and Dasatinib tablets, and tentative nod for Rivaroxaban tablets.

• Jupiter Life Line Hospitals: Converts Jupiter Pharmacy into a private limited company; JHPPL now a subsidiary.

• Rajoo Engineers: To raise up to Rs 225 crore via QIP in multiple tranches.

• Sobha: Receives Rs 7.27 crore GST demand, including interest and penalty.

• Kross: India Ratings upgrades rating to 'IND A' with a positive outlook.

• GR Infraprojects: Board meeting on March 7 to consider an interim dividend.

• Sterling & Wilson: Receives Rs 59.14 crore GST demand, with an equal penalty and interest.

• Welspun Specialty Solutions: Declared L1 bidder for a Rs 231.77 crore order from BHEL to supply 4,050 tons of stainless steel seamless boiler tubes.

Bulk Deal

SpiceJet: Plutus Wealth Management acquired 90 lakh shares, or 0.7% equity, at Rs 46 per share.

Block Deal

Avanti Feeds: IIFL Facilities Services purchased 59.7 lakh shares (4.3% equity) at Rs 728, while Thai Union Asia Investment Holding sold the same quantity at the same price.

Who's Meeting Whom?

• Hitachi Energy: To meet analysts and investors on March 5.

• PI Industries: To meet analysts and investors on March 7.

• Persistent Systems: To meet analysts and investors on March 7.

Trading Tweaks

• Price band change to 5% from 10%: International Gemmological Institute (India) Ltd.

• Price band change to 10% from 20%: Coffee Day Enterprises, Gensol Engineering.

• Stocks moving into short-term ASM framework: Nibe Ltd.

• Stocks moving out of short-term ASM framework: GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, KDDL.

Bonus Issue Record Date

• Anand Rathi Wealth: 1:1 bonus issue.

• Vantage Knowledge Academy: 1:1 bonus issue.

F&O Cues

• Nifty March futures down by 0.34% at a premium of 108.4 points.

• Nifty March futures open interest up by 1.39%.

• Nifty Options March 6 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 23,000 and maximum put open interest at 20,800.

• Securities in ban period: Nil.

Insider Trades

• Sobha: Promoter Puthan Naduvakkatt Chenthamaraksha Menon acquired 25,631 shares.

• Kilburn Engineering: Promoter Firstview Trading Pvt. acquired 20,000 shares.

• Alkyl Amines Chemicals: Promoter Purjeeko Trading & Consultancy acquired 3,000 shares.

• Man Industries: Promoter Man Finance Pvt. acquired 20,000 shares.

• Rain Industries: Promoter Sujala Investments Private Limited acquired 14,000 shares.

Currency Update 

The Indian rupee opened flat at 87.36 against the US dollar on Tuesday, unchanged from its previous close, as investors remained cautious amid rising global trade tensions and persistent foreign institutional investor outflows.