As a bearish investor sentiment grips the Indian equities market on Monday, 21 out of the 31 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage fell in a range of 0.25% to over 7%
DroneAcharya’s shares touched a fresh 52-week low of INR 95 during intraday trading before recovering slightly to INR 96.30
Benchmark index Sensex and Nifty 50 dropped about 0.50% today over concerns about US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans
The Indian equities market began the week on a bearish note, in line with the decline in the global markets over concerns about US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
While benchmark index Sensex fell 0.41% to 77,186.74, Nifty 50 dipped 0.52% to end the day’s trade at 23,361.05. Amid this bearish sentiment, 21 out of the 31 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage fell in a range of 0.25% to over 7% on Monday (February 3).
Kidswear omnichannel brand FirstCry emerged as the biggest loser today, with its shares slumping 7.35% to end the day at INR 469.30. The decline in the stock came after a substantial rally last week, which saw it surge 7.58% to INR 506.55.
The gains last week came after brokerage JM Financial gave FirstCry’s parent BrainBees Solution’s a ‘Buy’ rating, with a price target of INR 667, on the back of about 60% of its share capital becoming eligible to trade since January 24.
Besides, shares of SaaS major Unicommerce also spiralled down today after gaining substantially during the trade on Saturday. The company’s shares ended Tuesday’s trading session 4.30% lower at INR 152.30.
Among the losers, DroneAcharya’s shares touched a fresh 52-week low of INR 95 during intraday trading before recovering slightly to INR 96.30. This still marked a 4.18% decline from previous close.
Meanwhile, shares of 10 new-age tech companies gained in a range of 0.26% to over 5%.
Swiggy, the biggest gainer on Monday, saw a bullish momentum on the back of brokerage Kotak Institutional Equities’ ‘buy’ rating along with a price target of INR 500. Shares of its competitor Zomato also went up 0.89% to end the day at INR 238.25.
The increase in these stocks also came after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Union Budget 2025-25 speech, said salaried people with annual salary of up to INR 12.75 Lakh will not have to pay any income tax under the new tax regime. The FM also rejigged the tax rates under the new regime.
The move is expected to boost savings and consumer spending, benefitting the country’s consumer economy.
Meanwhile, Paytm was the second-biggest gainer today, with its shares ending the day 4.21% higher at INR 774.90. The increase came on the back of the company’s announcement to acquire a 25% stake in Delaware-based fintech startup Seven Technology LLC for $1 Mn through its cloud arm, Paytm Cloud Technologies Limited (PCTL).
Uncertainty On US Tariffs
The announcement by Trump to levy tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China to protect American industries shook the global market. The US president also warned of widening the scope of the trade tariffs to the European Union, which triggered concerns of a trade war that would hit the global economy.
The Indian benchmark indices felt the brunt of this announcement. “The Indian benchmark index, Nifty, commenced with a downward gap due to unfavorable global cues. However, after initial volatility, Nifty index witnessed some recovery and settled the day on a negative at 23,361. The volatility index, India VIX, rose by 1.82% to 14.35, indicating increased market volatility,” Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP of technical and derivatives research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates, said.
Commenting on Trump’s plans, Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, observed that it could lead to challenges to the global economy, heightening financial risks.
“International trade, which had flourished under the framework of globalisation, now faces threats from the new protectionist policies. Front and contour tariffs are expected to make the world less efficient and elevate global inflation & interest rates,” he added.
The global markets are expected to closely watch Trump’s announcements over the next few days. Besides the US, the Indian equities market will also keep an eye on the outcomes of the RBI’s first monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting under new governor Sanjay Malhotra this week.