Stock market today: Nifty 50, Sensex rebound from day’s low but close flat; smallcaps remain under pressure

After massive selling in the previous trading session, Indian markets witnessed some buying activity in today’s session, March 3, attempting to recover after frontline indices recorded their longest monthly losing streak since 1996.

Although the markets began the session in the green, momentum quickly turned negative, and by noon, both frontline indices had lost half a percent. However, strong buying in metals, realty, and IT stocks supported a recovery in the second half of the session, while oil & gas and financial services stocks continued to face pressure on the exchanges.

The Nifty 50 ended the session with a slight decline of 0.02%, closing at 22,120, while the Sensex fell 0.08% to finish at 73,139 compared to Friday’s close. The broader market ended mixed, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index gaining 0.22% to close at 48,022, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index declined 0.23% to settle at 14,666 points.

Investors continue to remain cautious on risky assets amid escalating trade tensions, promoting to reassess their portfolios, with allocations shifting toward safe-haven assets. Donald Trump’s series of announcements on tariffs on goods entering the U.S. is unsettling investors as his trade polices might ignite full blown trade war if affected countries announces impose retaliatory measures.

On the domestic front, Indian economy grew by 6.2% year on year in the third fiscal quarter ended December, rebounding from a seven-quarter low. The growth rate is greater than the revised 5.6% recorded in the July-September quarter, but ongoing global uncertainty have kept investors on edge.