The domestic benchmark indices opened flat on Wednesday amid weak global cues, as selling was seen in the IT and auto sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.29 am, Sensex was trading 23.12 points or 0.03 per cent up at 76,758.01 while the Nifty added 5.90 points or 0.03 per cent at 23,334.45.

Nifty Bank was up 258.05 points or 0.49 per cent at 52,637.55. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 52,148.35 after adding 173.90 points or 0.33 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 16,284.80 after climbing 105.50 points or 0.65 per cent.

According to market watchers, technically, the Nifty has decisively reclaimed levels above its 20, 50, and 100-day moving averages, a clearly encouraging sign for the bulls.

The Indian stock markets made a stunning comeback on Tuesday as the single-day rally added a massive Rs 10.9 lakh crore to investors’ wealth -- erasing all the losses that followed the US tariff shock on April 2.

In a powerful rally, the Sensex surged over 1,570 points while the Nifty jumped past 22,300 -- making it one of the sharpest gains in recent months.

The recovery was broad-based and driven by strong investor sentiment, boosted by global cues and domestic optimism.

The biggest trigger for the rally was a fresh update on US trade policy. Washington announced a 90-day delay in tariffs for most countries, except China.

The move eased investor nerves and reignited hopes for India’s position in global supply chains. Financial stocks led the charge, rising over 2 per cent due to their heavy weightage in the indices.

India's annual inflation rate, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), declined to 3.34 per cent in March this year, compared to the same month of the previous year, the lowest level since August 2019, according to figures released by the Ministry of Statistics on Tuesday.

Food inflation, during March, slowed to 2.69 per cent, which is the lowest level since November 2021.

The significant decline in headline inflation and food inflation during the month of March 2025 is mainly attributed to decline in inflation of vegetables, eggs, pulses, meat & fish cereals and milk, according to the official statement.

The key items with the lowest year-on-year inflation in March are ginger (-38.11 per cent), tomato (-34.96 per cent), cauliflower (-25.99 per cent), jeera (-25.86 per cent) and garlic (-25.22 per cent).

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Lower inflation and slower growth should allow the RBI to respond with a deeper easing cycle, with a cumulative easing of 100bps and two more cuts in 2025, a Morgan Stanley report said on Tuesday, pegging India's GDP growth at 6.1 per cent for FY26 amid global uncertainties.

The report also projected Sensex at 82,000 by December 2025, 9 per cent above the current level.

"India's 'low beta' is helping it to significantly outperform amid the global selloff, even while the index could reach multi-month lows. Key India-specific catalysts include continuing dovish actions from the RBI, stimulus through GST rate cuts, a trade deal with the US, and incoming growth data," said the report.

Morgan Stanley sees lower food inflation and lower oil prices, keeping food and non-food inflation at benign levels.

India’s annual rate of inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) slowed to 2.05 per cent in March, down from 2.38 per cent in February, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday.

The positive rate of inflation in March is primarily due to an increase in the prices of manufactured products, the figures showed.

The month-over-month change in WPI for March was in the negative zone at (-) 0.19 per cent as compared to the previous month of February, reflecting the declining trend in inflation. There was a decline in the prices of food as well as fuel and power groups compared to the previous month, which resulted in the overall month-on-month inflation rate turning negative.

Meanwhile, retail inflation has also been on a declining trend. The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee has reduced its inflation forecast for 2025-26 to 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent earlier as the “outlook for food inflation has turned decisively positive,” RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said last week.

The value mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as well as private equity (PE) deals in India’s domestic consumer and retail markets rose to a three-year high of close to $4 billion in the January-March quarter this year, according to consultancy firm Grant Thornton Bharat’s quarterly deal tracker report.

On the top of the deal list was Singapore-based PE player Temasek’s $1-billion investment in Haldiram Snack Foods for a 10 per cent stake in the Indian snack company and Wilmar International’s $1.4-billion investment that increased its shareholding from 44 per cent to nearly 75 per cent in Adani Wilmar (now called AWL Agri Business after Adani Group’s exit). The mega deals reflect growing investor confidence in India’s food processing sector, the report states.

India’s rooftop solar energy capacity is projected to surge from 17 GW to an estimated 25–30 GW between FY25 and FY27, a report showed on Tuesday.

The expansion is driven by India’s broader energy transition goals, with solar power emerging as a central pillar in the country’s clean energy roadmap.

With a total renewable capacity of 220 GW as of FY25 and a national target of 300 GW solar capacity by 2030, rooftop solar, particularly in the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment, is expected to play a pivotal role in this growth, according to the report by CareEdge Ratings.

As of FY25, India’s rooftop solar capacity stood at 17.02 GW, and increasing awareness among businesses about reducing operating costs and meeting sustainability targets is fuelling adoption.

Government incentives, reducing technology costs, and policy support such as net metering and PLI schemes are expected to further accelerate deployment.

India’s frontline equity indices on Tuesday surged in a massive bull rally in the early trade, as positive global cues improved investors' sentiment.

After the opening bell, the Nifty 50 was trading 467 points or 2.05 per cent higher at 23,295.55, and the Sensex was trading 1,569.89 points or 2.09 per cent higher at 76,727.15.

All the sectoral indices traded in the green, with Nifty Auto jumping nearly three per cent to lead the pack. The Nifty Bank index soared two percent, while the IT, pharma, and metal indices also recorded strong gains.

Tata Motors, M&M and Bharat Forge shares soared up to eight per cent in the early session.

The broader markets underperformed the benchmarks, as the Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 gained 1.3 per cent each in early trade.

India's hospitality sector demonstrated remarkable resilience and growth in 2024, maintaining investment levels on par with the previous year with 42,071 new hotel keys, a report showed on Monday.

The year 2024 saw approximately 25 deals, primarily involving operational properties in both business and leisure destinations, according to JLL's latest analysis.

High-net-worth individuals, family offices, and private hotel owners led the charge, contributing 51 per cent of the transaction volume.