Initial optimism around the India-UK free trade agreement gave way to caution as attention shifted firmly to earnings

Pivotals declined on Thursday, reversing previous gains amid profit-taking and foreign fund outflows. Despite a positive start, the 30-share BSE Sensex failed to carry forward the momentum and fell later in the trade. The benchmark tanked 542.47 points to settle at 82,184.17. During the day, it tumbled 679.42 points to 82,047.22. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 157.80 points to 25,062.10.

“Equities fell sharply, reversing previous gains despite positive global cues. Initial optimism around the India-UK free trade agreement gave way to caution as attention shifted firmly to earnings. The IT and FMCG sectors dragged down large-cap stocks due to subdued Q1 performance. Though the Q1 earnings are broadly in line, it does not justify the premium valuation; India is trading at a 3-year high of 21x P/E,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Investments.

“US striking trade deals with many countries is slowly removing concerns surrounding tariff wars. Even though global trade has been impacted this year and global growth will remain subdued at around 2.8% equity markets are slowly discounting recovery in trade and growth in 2026. This optimism explains the resilience and uptrend in global equity markets now. In the US, good corporate earnings are providing fundamental support to the market,” said Dr VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments.