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Informist, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025

By Akash Mandal

MUMBAI - The benchmark indices declined for the eighth successive session Friday with the Nifty 50 closing below 23000 points, the index's longest declining streak in two years. This is only the third time in eight months that the index has closed below 23000 points. 

The index fell briefly below its key support of 22800 points to an eight-month intraday low of 22774.85 points before erasing some of its losses. The Nifty 50 ended at 22929.25 points, down 102.15 points or 0.4%. The BSE Sensex closed at 75939.21 points, down 199.76 points or 0.3%. More than 83% of the stocks traded on the National Stock Exchange ended in the red, with 540 stocks hitting 52-week lows.

The Nifty 50 ended in the red for the week after two weeks of gains. This week, the index gave up all the gains made in the past two weeks, ending lower than in the week ended Jan. 24. The index fell 2.7% this week.

The broader market indices plunged as the smallcap and midcap indices fell 2-4%. Since hitting their respective lifetime highs in September, the Nifty 50 has fallen almost 13%, and the Nifty Smallcap 250 and the Nifty Midcap 150 have plunged more than 22% and 18%, respectively.

The benchmark indices had opened higher, possibly buoyed by the positive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump. The two leaders agreed to increase the bilateral trade between their countries to $500 billion by 2030, but Trump also accused India of having high tariffs.

The indices soon fell, however, amid the overall negative sentiment due to concerns about tariffs by the US and slower growth in corporate earnings. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries was the biggest drag on the Nifty 50, declining almost 3%. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Bharat Electronics, and Adani Enterprises all fell over 4% and were the worst hit on the 50-stock index. Index heavyweight ICICI Bank capped the fall in the index, and the stock ended almost 1% higher. Britannia Industries also ended over 1% higher to be the top gainer in the index.

All Adani Group stocks fell Friday, with Adani Energy Solutions being the worst hit, ending almost 5% lower. On Thursday, Adani Green Energy had said during market hours that it had withdrawn from a $442 million wind power project in Sri Lanka citing environmental concerns and dispute over tariffs. Adani Power ended almost 2% lower.

All sectoral indices ended in the red for the third straight session. The sectoral indices Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare, which were the top gainers Thursday, were the worst hit Friday. Natco Pharma and Laurus Labs were the worst hit pharmaceutial stocks, each ending over 9% lower.

Fast-moving consumer goods stocks were relatively better off, but the Nifty FMCG still ended lower, declining for the tenth straight session. Britannia Industries, Nestle India, and Godrej Consumer Products all ended 0.5-1.0% higher. However, Varun Beverages and Radico Khaitan fell 4% and 5%, respectively, dragging the sectoral index down.

Gains were capped across the Nifty 500 with Godfrey Phillips India the only stock to end with major gains, surging to hit the 20% upper circuit when the gains of all other stocks were below 4%. Shares of Godfrey Phillips rose after its net profit for the December quarter rose over 35% on year and revenue rose nearly 28%. Triveni Turbine, Chalet Hotels, and Bayer Cropscience all ended 2-4% higher.

On the other hand, Concord Biotech plunged nearly 20% and was the worst hit among the Nifty 500 constituents after its consolidated net profit for the December quarter fell over 2% on year and nearly 21% sequentially. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation margin fell by 390 basis points on year to 40.1% during the quarter.

Deepak Nitrite fell 15% after its net profit and revenue for the quarter fell 77% and 18% on year, respectively. Natco Pharma fell for the second straight session after reporting weak quarterly earnings and ended nearly 9% lower.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 11 rose and 39 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 9 rose and 21 fell

* On the NSE, 411 stocks rose, 2,390 fell, and 59 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 681 stocks rose, 3,320 fell, and 82 were unchanged

* Nifty Pharma: down 2.8%; Nifty Healthcare: down 2.5%; Nifty IT: down 0.01%

BSE                                               NSE

75939.21 points, down 199.76 points or 0.3%       22929.25 points, down 102.15 points or 0.4%

End

US$1 = INR 86.89

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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