A cooling U.S. April inflation data and a pause in global trade tensions added to the positive trend in the equity markets, traders said. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended higher on Wednesday (May 14, 2025) as retail inflation eased to a nearly six-year low of 3.16% in April, creating enough room for the RBI to go for another rate cut in the June monetary policy review.

A cooling U.S. April inflation data and a pause in global trade tensions added to the positive trend in the equity markets, traders said.

In a highly volatile trade, the 30-share BSE benchmark gauge Sensex climbed 182.34 points or 0.22% to settle at 81,330.56. The gauge hit a high of 81,691.87 and a low of 80,910.03.

The NSE Nifty rose 88.55 points or 0.36% to 24,666.90.

From the Sensex firms, Tata Steel, Eternal, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services and Bharti Airtel were the major gainers.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel climbed nearly 1% after it posted about a five-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 11,022 crore in the March 2025 quarter, mainly due to the tariff hike impact and one-time gain on tax benefits.

However, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC and Power Grid were among the laggards.

Tata Motors dipped over 1% after the firm reported a 51% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 8,556 crore for the March quarter, hit by lower volumes and operating leverage.

Meanwhile, the retail inflation eased to a nearly six-year low of 3.16% in April, mainly due to subdued prices of vegetables, fruits, pulses, and other protein-rich items, creating enough room for the Reserve Bank to go for another round of rate cuts in the June monetary policy review.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was 3.34% in March and 4.83% in April 2024. It was 3.15% in July 2019.

The wholesale price inflation dropped to a 13-month low of 0.85% in April, with softening in prices of food articles, fuel and manufactured products, with experts projecting further easing in the data for next month, government data showed on Wednesday (May 14, 2025).

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng settled higher while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index ended lower.

Markets in Europe were trading mostly lower. U.S. markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday (May 13, 2025).

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.13% to $65.88 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 476.86 crore on Tuesday (May 13, 2025), according to exchange data.

On Tuesday (May 13, 2025), the Sensex tanked 1,281.68 points or 1.55% to settle at 81,148.22. The broader Nifty of NSE dropped 346.35 points or 1.39% to 24,578.35.