Asian markets traded lower on Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, after US' 25% tariffs on auto imports.

US stock market ended sharply lower on Wednesday, dragged down by losses in Nvidia and Tesla shares, ahead of the US tariffs on automotive imports.

Here's a table showing how US stocks performed on Wednesday:

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 167 points higher, and the NSE Nifty is trading 48 points higher.

Reliance Industries, Titan and ICICI Bank are among the top gainers today.

Tata Motors, HUL and HCL Tech, on other hand, are among the top losers today.

The BSE Midcap index is trading 0.4% lower, and the BSE Smallcap index is trading 0.5% lower.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed today with stocks in banking sector, and metal sector witnessing buying. Meanwhile stocks in auto sector and power sector witnessing selling pressure.

The rupee is trading at Rs 85.9 against the US dollar.
 

Bharat Forge Signs Deal With Defence Ministry

Bharat Forge's shares may gain attention on the 27th of March, as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed a deal for ATAGS and the High Mobility Vehicle 6x6 Gun Towing Vehicles for ?6,900 crore.

In the company of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi, Bharat Forge also inked the deal with Tata Advanced Systems Limited.

The lethality of the ATAGS will lead the Indian army to replace the older lower calibre artillery guns. The MoD pointed out that this set purchasing is a leap forward in the modernization of artillery regiments, as well as improving operational preparedness.

These contracts signed, brings the tally of capital procurement contracts executed by the defence ministry in FY 2024-25 to ?1.40 lakh crores.

This will boost domestic production of guns under the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' initiative as it is the first major purchase of towed artillery from the privately owned gun manufacturing sector.
 

Wipro Inks 10-Year Deal

On the 26th of March, the IT behemoth from India Wipro Ltd announced that it entered into a deal with ReAssure UK Services Limited worth US$ 650 million.

The deal is spread through 10 years, meaning that the UK subsidiary of Phoenix Group, who skin the deal with Wipro, will have to pay Wipro 65 million dollars every year. The UK based company is the largest savings and retirement service provider in the country.

The contract terms are that it's being undertaken with Wipro and one of its fully owned subcontractor companies, Wipro Financial Outsourcing Services Limited (WFOSL), gives strategy for providing the platform-based Life & Pension Third Party Administration services (TPA) of  life insurance policies and pensions.

Wipro will be undertaking the Policy Administration Business and the corollary business processes like Claims Processing, Customer Service, Data Capture and Maintenance, Reporting and Compliance, etc. on account of the customer.

On the other hand, the firm's obligation is to transform the core policy admin platform ALPHA of ReAssure by using technologies like AI, automation, cloud and digital transformation. The agreement is purely contractual in nature with no limit placed on the scope of services Wipro can provide. Services will be forthcoming over the period of 10 years.

Infosys Terminates More Trainees

Infosys has reportedly terminated 30-45 trainees from its Mysuru campus on March 26 after they failed to clear internal assessments.

However, the Bengaluru-based IT giant is providing an alternative career path, including 12 weeks of training for potential roles in Infosys Business Process Management (BPM). The company will also sponsor the training for those opting for the BPM course.

This development follows Infosys' decision two months ago to terminate 350 trainees, who were on-boarded after a 2.5-year delay.

Infosys is also offering a one-month ex-gratia payment along with a relieving letter to the affected trainees. For those not interested in the BPM opportunity, the company will arrange transport from Mysuru to Bengaluru, provide a standard travel allowance to their hometown, and offer temporary accommodation at the Employee Care Centre in Mysuru until their departure.

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