Stock Market Highlights: Markets close lower; Nifty below 22,400, Sensex down 200 points

Sensex Nifty Today | Stock Market Highlights: The benchmark equity indices closed on a lower note with both Sensex and Nifty in red after a volatile session. The major losers at this hour include Shriram Finance, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco, and Wipro in Nifty.

A look at key data that’s helping maintain the optimistic sentiment-

1. US CPI Inflation: Inflation in the US declined to 2.8% on a yearly basis in February from 3% in January. On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.2% following the 0.5% increase recorded in January. The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 3.1% on a yearly basis. This print followed the 3.3% increase in January.

2. India’s consumer inflation: India’s retail inflation, which is measured through the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased down to 3.61% in the month of February as compared to 5.09% in February a year ago. The retail inflation stood at 4.26% in January 2025. 

3. IIP data: Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which measures India’s industrial output, grew by 5% in January, from 3.5% in December 2024. The data showed that the manufacturing sector’s output grew 5.5% in January as against 3.6% in the year-ago period. This is a positive, indicating that demand is picking up in the country.