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

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India and the EU had concluded a “landmark” free trade agreement, describing it as the “mother of all deals.” The pact is significant in scale, representing around 25% of global GDP and nearly a third of global trade.

Market participants are also bracing for the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision due on Wednesday, where the central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged, adding to the cautious undertone in early trade.

At close, the Sensex was up 320 points or 0.39% at 81,857, while 50-share Nifty ended the session at 126 points higher or 0.51% at 25,175. On the BSE, the advance–decline ratio tilted in favour of the bears, with 1,985 stocks advancing, 2,306 declining and 182 remaining unchanged.

Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:

“Market sentiment was buoyed by optimism around the India–European Union free trade agreement and expectations that the US could ease tariff-related measures linked to India’s imports of Russian oil. Adding to the positive undertone, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the conclusion of a landmark India–EU free trade pact, covering economies that together account for nearly a quarter of global GDP and about one-third of global trade,” Ashika Institutional Equities said.

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“The European Commission President termed the agreement a historic breakthrough, describing it as the “mother of all deals,” and noted that India and the EU would also undertake joint naval exercises to combat piracy. The deal is expected to create millions of jobs across both regions, further supporting investor confidence.”

US markets

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq advanced ⁠on Wednesday as investors parsed through a slate of bellwether earnings, while health insurers dropped after a Medicare Advantage payment proposal from the Trump administration disappointed investors.
The S&P 500 inched closer to record levels and hovers about 35 points shy of the 7,000 milestone – a mark that analysts have pegged as a potential pocket of technical ‌resistance.The Dow fell, pressured ‌by a 19% drop in UnitedHealth after the Trump administration floated only a modest increase in Medicare insurer payment rates.

The proposal clouded over the insurer’s forecast for 2026 adjusted profit, which ‌was above analysts’ expectations. Peers Humana and CVS fell 19% and 9.2%, respectively.

European Markets

European equities climbed on Tuesday, supported ⁠by a raft of positive corporate catalysts that eased investor concerns over recent trade tensions, while shares of Puma jumped after the sportswear maker sold a stake to China’s Anta Sports.

The gains underscore how investors ‌are leaning on company-specific ‌factors to guide market sentiment amid an increasingly uncertain macroeconomic environment.

The pan-European STOXX 600 benchmark was up 0.2% by 0940 ‌GMT. Banks jumped 1.2%, hitting their highest since May 2008.

Tech View

“Technically, after an early morning intraday dip, the market took support near 24,900/81000 and bounced back sharply. From the day’s lowest level, the market rallied over 300/950 points. On daily charts, the index has formed a long bullish candle, and on intraday charts, it formed a promising reversal pattern, which is largely positive.” Shrikant Chouhand, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities said.

“We are of the view that 25,000/81,400 and 24,900/81,000 would act as key support zones. As long as the market trades above these levels, a pullback formation is likely to continue. On the higher side, 25,200/81,800 would be the immediate resistance zone for the bulls. A successful breakout of 25,200/81,800 could push the market up to 25,300-25,350/82,200-82,400.

On the flip side, below 24,900/81,000, sentiment could change. If the market falls below this level, traders may prefer to exit their long positions.”

Most active stocks in terms of turnover

HDFC Bank (Rs 4,104 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs 3,634 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 3,415 crore), Axis Bank (Rs 2,984 crore), Eternal (Rs 2,701 crore), M&M (Rs 2,425 crore) and Bharti Airtel (Rs 2,077 crore) were among the most active stocks on NSE 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

Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 56.66 crore), Bharat Coking Coal (Traded shares: 13.15 crore), YES Bank (Traded shares: 11.19 crore), Eternal (Traded shares: 10.61 crore), PCJeweller (Traded shares: 9.12 crore), GTL Infra (Traded shares: 7.2 crore) and Ola Electric Mobility (Traded shares: 6.58 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Shares of Adani Enterprises, Axis Bank, JSW Steel, Adani Ports, and Grasim were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

52 Week high

Data on NSE shows that 44 stocks hit their 52-week highs today while 580 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52 week highs included Axis Bank, Hindalco, JSW Steel, Hindustan Zinc, and NALCO.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were M&M, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Max Health and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

Sentiment meter bullish

The market sentiment was still bearish as indicated by the advance decline ratio on the BSE. Out of the 4,473 stocks that traded on the BSE on Tuesday, 1,947 stocks witnessed declines, 2,325 saw advances, while 181 stocks remained unchanged.

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