At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 211.21 points, or 0.29%, to 73,002.39. The Nifty 50 index fell 55.65 points, or 0.25%, to 22,069.05.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.18% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index tanked 2.41%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 746 shares rose and 3,229 shares fell. A total of 142 shares were unchanged.

FIR against ex-SEBI chief:

A special court has directed the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to register a first information report (FIR) against former SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, the whole-time members of the market regulator, and two BSE officials on charges of alleged stock market fraud, regulatory violations, and corruption linked to the listing of a company in 1994. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said it would take legal steps to challenge the order. The order comes just two days after Buch completed her tenure as SEBI chief.

Economy:

India’s economic growth improved to 6.2% in the third quarter of FY25, up from an initially reported 5.4% in the previous quarter. Real GDP has been estimated to grow by 6.5% in FY 2024–25. Nominal GDP is expected to witness a growth rate of 9.9% in FY 2024–25. Both the growth rates are revised upward from their respective First Advance Estimates.

Real GDP is estimated to grow by 6.2% in Q3 of FY 2024-25. Growth rate in nominal GDP for Q3 of FY 2024-25 has been estimated at 9.9%. The growth rate of real GDP for Q2 of the financial year 2024-25 has been revised upward to 5.6%.

India's core sector recorded a growth of 4.6% (provisional) in January 2025, official data showed today. The final core growth for October 2024 increased by 3.8%, with the cumulative growth rate during April-January 2024-25 at 4.4% (provisional) over the comparable period of last year.

Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registered 56.3 in February, down from 57.7 in January but still indicative of a further robust improvement in the health of the sector. Business conditions improved across all three monitored sub-sectors: consumer, intermediate, and investment goods.

The Indian manufacturing sector's strong start to 2025 continued in February. Despite slowing to the weakest since December 2023, rates of expansion in output and sales remained elevated in the context of the survey's 20-year history.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 1.29% to 14.90. The Nifty 27 March 2025 futures were trading at 22,211, at a premium of 141.95 points as compared with the spot at 22,069.05.

The Nifty option chain for the 27 March 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 52.6lakh contracts at the 23,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 213.05 lakh contracts was seen at 22,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index fell 1.24% to 8,117.70. The index declined 2.39% in the two consecutive trading sessions.

Welspun Corp (down 8.08%), Hindustan Copper (down 3.2%), Hindustan Zinc (down 2.89%), APL Apollo Tubes (down 2.75%), Adani Enterprises (down 2.44%), NMDC (down 2.1%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.06%), Steel Authority of India (down 2.01%), Tata Steel (down 1.92%) and National Aluminium Company (down 1.58%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 0.42%. The company said that the company’s power transmission & distribution (PT&D) vertical has secured ‘large’ orders in India and abroad.

NCC slipped 2%. The company announced that it has received an order worth Rs 218.82 crore from the state government for a transportation project.

Solarium Green Energy rallied 3.75% after the company announced that it had received a work order worth Rs 3.09 crore from the Border Security Force (BSF) Jammu, dated 28 February 2025.

Coffee Day Enterprises hit an upper circuit limit of 20% after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) dismissed a bankruptcy plea filed against the company by IDBI Trusteeship Services.