After a two-day decline, Nifty and Sensex ended the session with strong gains on April 2, driven by a rebound in banking and IT stocks. The rally comes just ahead of US President Donald Trump’s April 2 tariff deadline, which the White House has confirmed will take immediate effect. At closing, Nifty was above 23,300 while Sensex rose 593 pts ahead of Trump's tariffs
Losers
- Shares of Nestle India dropped over 2% on April 2 after Bank of America (BofA) Securities downgraded the stock to 'Underperform' from 'Neutral', setting a target price of ₹2,140. The downgrade was driven by soft demand trends, cost pressures, and aggressive competition, particularly from rising commodity prices like coffee and cocoa. BofA noted that the operating environment remains challenging, which could affect the company’s near-term performance.
- HUL shares fell around 1.4% after BofA Securities downgraded the stock from 'Buy' to 'Neutral', cutting the target price to Rs 2,330 from Rs 2,540. While the brokerage acknowledged that the company’s performance is expected to improve from recent lows, it believes the pace of growth and margin recovery will be slower than anticipated.
3) Shares of Hyundai Motor India dropped 1% to Rs 1,685 after the auto major reported modest sales growth for March 2025. Total sales rose just 2.6% year-on-year to 67,320 units, including domestic sales of 51,820 units and exports of 15,500 units. Despite being India’s second-largest passenger vehicle maker, the lukewarm growth disappointed investors, leading to the stock’s decline.
4) Central Bank of India shares plunged nearly 10% after its Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP). Other PSU banks like Indian Overseas Bank and Punjab & Sind Bank also faced declines. Analysts pointed out that investors are concerned about credit quality and asset health, especially in light of heavy loans to entities like Vodafone and subsequent partial equity conversion. This has prompted a sell-off as the market becomes more selective, favoring banks with stronger fundamentals.
5) Shares of Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) declined over 5% after the PSU defense firm missed its FY25 order inflow guidance. The company reported a turnover of around Rs 23,000 crore, which is 16% higher than the previous year but below its projected Rs 25,000 crore. At 10:10 am on April 2, BEL shares on the BSE were trading 5.3% lower at Rs 276.6 apiece.
Gainers:
Gainers
6) Shares of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) rebounded by 2-3% after an early dip, as Morgan Stanley highlighted the potential for regulatory approval to launch weekly options. While the brokerage maintained an 'Underweight' stance with a price target of Rs 3,400 (indicating a potential 35% downside from the current price), the expectation of new product offerings helped the stock recover.
7) The Nifty IT index gained 1.07% in intraday trade, rebounding after two sessions of losses in which it had declined by 4.21%. Eight of the ten index constituents traded in the green, with Tech Mahindra leading the gains, rising 2.21% to an intraday high of ₹1,426.05 per share on the NSE. Infosys and Wipro followed closely, gaining 1.9% and 1.12%, respectively, while Persistent Systems was up 1.64% at ₹5,297.25 per share. Only HCL Technologies and Coforge were in the red.
8) Shares of Tata Consumer Products jumped 8.15% in early trade to an intraday high of Rs 1,073.15 on the NSE after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to 'BUY' from 'Neutral'. The global brokerage raised its price target from Rs 1,040 to Rs 1,200, citing robust growth prospects for the company’s Earnings Per Share (EPS) over FY25-FY27. The stock later pared some gains, trading at Rs 1,063.40, still up 7.17%.
9) During today’s session, Kalyan Jewellers India surged 4.65% to reach Rs 480.40 in late morning trade. The stock’s rise was accompanied by increased trading volume, indicating strong investor interest and heightened market activity. This positive movement reflects a shift in sentiment compared to the previous session, possibly driven by institutional investors or large-scale buying activity.
10) Shares of V-Mart Retail posted strong gains of up to 12 percent after the companies reported positive updates for the January-March quarter of FY25. V-Mart shares rose nearly 8 percent. V-Mart Retail reported a 17 percent on-year rise in total revenue from operations to Rs 780 crore in Q4FY25. However, its digital marketplace LimeRoad saw a 47 percent decline in revenue.
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