Hello and welcome to Business 360. I'm Sharan Ban. The headlines that we're tracking for you this evening: Bulls continue to regain lost ground as positive global cues lift sentiment. The Nifty hits the highest level in two weeks, reclaiming 22,500. The rupee weakens marginally against the US dollar after yesterday's rally. Crude oil prices hit a three-year low with Brent crude falling below the $70 mark. The US government wants zero tariffs on all goods to trade with India, barring agricultural products. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met with his counterpart in Washington. Sources say India is unlikely to get any concessions from the US on the proposed reciprocal tariff scheduled to come in from the 2nd of April. That's an exclusive.
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Top US automakers General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis get a one-month reprieve from the tariffs imposed. US President Donald Trump approves a one-month relaxation to US-based automakers, exempts them from the 25% tariff levy on Canadian and Mexican imports as long as they comply with free trade rules. The White House says that the Trump administration took the decision after speaking to America's three big auto manufacturers.
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And most of our sons, our daughters are smarter than us. They have to be given the right direction by the parent.
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Well, let's start with the market action today where the Bulls did regain some lost ground. The Sensex and the Nifty gaining for the second day. The Sensex gained over 600 points today and the Nifty added over 200, reclaiming 22,500. So closing 200 points higher, that's the Nifty. The Sensex up 609. The midcap index gaining about 180 points and the Nifty Bank also some reprieve there, 140 points higher. That is the story as far as our market is concerned. About BSE-listed companies adding 12 lakh crore rupees to market cap just today. So some reprieve there for our markets.
In the money market, the Indian rupee weakened marginally against the US dollar. The rupee seen a big rally yesterday, gaining over 30 paise. Today it lost about 16 paise. In the last two weeks, the RBI's announced measures worth $20 billion to shore up liquidity and stem the rupee's fall. So that's the dollar-rupee at 87.11 for you. And that's the bond market action. Latha standing by with more on the impact of the RBI's recent measures on the currency and bond markets.
Well, actually there are too many moving parts actually in the currency market. The biggest bazooka is Europe deciding to spend. Ever since the European Commission was created, they had this big strict 3% debt ceiling. Now they've broken out of it and said that countries will be allowed to extend, you know, raise the limit by about 1% if it is for debt spending. Separately, they have also said, Germany has said that they are also going to increase their debt spending. And this has resulted in the Euro, you know, strengthening a lot because it'll mean so much of spending on, you know, automobiles, warships, etc. And that strengthens the Euro because funds flow into European stocks and the dollar weakens. So that's one story that's playing out. It was quite unexpected. And of course, the dollar also became a little wobbly, a little weak on fears that this tariff on Canada and Mexico can first weaken the US itself.
Now, separate from all this is what's happening in the rupee market. What the Reserve Bank has done is this another 10 billion of FX swaps. What does it basically mean? They announced one already and they did one on February 28th. The RBI had sold a lot of dollars, but the actual selling was pushed forward because they sold forward dollars all through October, November, December. So they haven't accumulated some 80 billion of open positions. Now 20 billion of that over last two months, you know, on February 28th and today, they've pushed it three years forward. So that sitting on the head that, you know, oh, the RBI will come in and supply these dollars, that is not there. It's less. But separately as well, what the move does of this FX swaps is it makes forward dollars cheaper. So hedging becomes cheaper. And the expectation on the part of bankers is that a lot of companies will now borrow ECBs because it becomes cheap to hedge them. And that will mean the capital account deficit that we are facing because of FPI capital outflows could get reduced because we will get debt flows. Incidentally, debt flows have been coming. The FPI are selling equity, in debt barring January, all other months they were positive. Now there will be private, you know, corporate debt also coming in. So that pressure on the dollar also goes down.
Now, where does this all this leave the rupee? Actually, it's still quite ranged. There are enough factors on both sides against the dollar and pro the rupee. The fact the dollar itself has weakened, it's now back to DXY is where it was before Trump was elected. Oil is cheaper, that's positive for the rupee. And exporters usually bring in money by March 31st for their own accounts. The Reserve Bank also will not want a very bad ending. That is pro rupee. Now, anti of course is April 2nd is yet to come and then FPI have not stopped selling. So those negatives remain. But the mood in the market is that the worst is definitely over for the rupee simply because now no one is that long dollar. That craze for a long, long dollar is completely gone out of the market. People won't take speculative positions.
All right, Latha, many thanks for joining us. That was the rupee market action. In the commodities market, shares of oil marketing companies gained in trade after prices of crude oil prices slipped to three-year lows. Brent crude declining below $70 a barrel, extending the losses of over 6% in the last four trading sessions. And in the gold market, the yellow metal has seen modest gains today, largely helped by the pullback in the US dollar. Gold prices also reached a near lifetime high in intraday trade on the MCX, marking the highest price since the 24th of February. And in the crypto space, Bitcoin price is surging past $90,000, marking an increase of around 6% in just the last 24 hours. The prices of Ethereum and Solana also up 6% each. The surge comes as US President Donald Trump has said he will host the crypto community at the White House on Friday.
Staying with President Trump, he's decided to delay tariffs on some vehicles from Mexico and Canada by a month. Now this comes after the heads of General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis urged the president to exempt vehicles that comply with the free trade agreement that came into effect in 2020. The White House said that one-month reprieve was being given to ensure that these three automakers are not at an economic disadvantage. President Trump's new 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada came into effect on Tuesday. The Trump administration is also reportedly considering exempting some Canadian and Mexican agricultural imports from the high levy.
And speaking of tariffs, the Trump administration has also put out a list of demands for India. They've sought a zero tariff regime for almost all goods being traded with India, barring agricultural products. The demand from the US government comes close on the heels of Tesla gearing up to enter India. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal held high-level trade talks with his US counterparts in Washington DC. Sources tell us that India is unlikely to get any concessions from the proposed reciprocal tariffs from the second of April. Parikshit joins us now with more details. Parikshit, zero tariff on demand, that's the big one coming in from the US. But what are you picking up on what India's response is likely to be?
India and US have initiated trade talks this week after threatening all nations, including India, with reciprocal tariffs starting second April. The US government, as per sources, want zero-for-zero tariffs for all product lines except for agriculture. This comes at a time when Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is in US for talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. This is the first time that the two sides are formally initiating talks on the bilateral trade agreement that Prime Minister Modi and Donald Trump have agreed to sign by September or October this year. Can India offer zero tariffs on all US goods coming into India, including Tesla? That remains to be seen. However, experts have been saying that India can offer zero-for-zero tariffs on 90% of industrial goods coming in from the US. India would also like more market access for goods made by labor-intensive sectors in India and by SMEs. While India would like the reciprocal tariffs to be set aside, sources say so far there is little likelihood of any carve-out for India when it comes to automobiles. It is very clear that Donald Trump wants American cars like Tesla and Harley-Davidson motorcycles to be sold in India tariff-free without having to set up manufacturing.
As far as Tesla's India entry goes, things seem to be moving fast with Tesla taking a 4,000 sq ft space in Maker's Maxity Mall in BKC in Mumbai. They're going to pay over 36 lakhs per month in rent over 5 years and the deed has come into effect in February this year. Tesla has also taken some parking spots in the building to charge cars. The company, as per our sources, has also taken a space on rent in World Mark Mall in Aerocity. The company has also kickstarted hirings of Pune and Mumbai, mainly for showroom-related roles. Let's see what happens before the 2nd of April when US reciprocal tariffs kick in. Will Tesla succeed with its entry-level models in India? Considering the price of Tesla's base model is $35,000 or 31 lakh rupees and an average Indian car costs around $11,000 or rupees 10 lakhs. With a 15% import duty as stated in India's electric car manufacturing scheme, the price of Tesla's car can go up to $40,000 or $42,000 or 37 lakh rupees. The high cost is the reason why some believe that Tesla may not be able to make a big splash in the India car market.
All right, Parikshit, many thanks for joining us. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is hosting a post-budget seminar and she says the interest of Indian exports have been well documented and flagged with the US. Speaking at an event in Visakhapatnam, the Finance Minister cited Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's visit to Washington DC and said the government will protect the interests of Indian exporters. Take a look.
Well, at the moment, based on the information that we have, and also with the Commerce Ministry having had a consultation with some stakeholders, minister has gone to the US to initiate some discussion. The interest of all our exporters is well documented with the Commerce Ministry and so we have to see how the ministry is taking up the negotiation. Our officers are constantly giving information and sharing inputs to protect the interest of Indian exporters. So that much I can say now, but let's see what comes out of the negotiations.
