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Informist, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025

By Akshita Kumar

MUMBAI – The benchmark indices each fell over 1% Monday with the Nifty 50 falling below its intraday support level of 22700-22650 points. It ended the session near 22550 points as all the large-cap information technology stocks registered a big fall. Apart from this, several index heavyweights such as HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank also pulled the Nifty 50 down.

"Uncertainity around US President Donald Trump's tariffs, depreciation of the rupee against the dollar, and lower-than-expected financial results for the December quarter are some of the reasons hurting the domestic market," Sanjeev Hota, head of research at Sharekhan, said. Further, the decline in IT stocks in the US last week affected sentiment Monday as tariffs by Trump are expected to result in inflation in the US, hurting the prospects of sharper cuts in interest rates.

The Nifty 50 closed at 22553.35 points Monday, down 242.55 points or 1.1%. The BSE Sensex ended at 74454.41 points, down 856.65 points or 1.1%. The Nifty 50 has ended in the green only twice this month. The index is down 4% this month and has lost over 14% from its lifetime high. Within the broader market, the mid-cap and small-cap indices also ended around 1% lower.

Shares of most large-cap IT companies such as Wipro, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, and Infosys ended 3-4% lower. Losses in IT stocks pulled the Nifty IT sectoral index to end at a six-month low of 39446.60 points, down 2.7%. The index was the worst hit among sectoral indices, declining for the fourth straight session.

The market may have been too bullish about the recovery in discretionary spending and revenue growth of IT companies in the financial year 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) and FY27, and IT stocks are probably correcting after prices remained resilient earlier on high expectations, a senior analyst at a leading domestic brokerage said. IT companies are unlikely to see double-digit or even high-single-digit growth as recovery in large order wins and discretionary spending by US-based clients is not visible yet, even with FY25 drawing to a close, the analyst said.

Among other companies in the IT sector, shares of Info Edge and LTIMindtree closed nearly 5% lower each. Shares of Vijaya Diagnostic Centre and Jyoti CNC Automation ended 7% and 6% lower, respectively, and were amnong the worst hit in the Nifty 500 index.

Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra ended up 1.5%. Brokerage Elara Securities upgraded its rating on the stock to 'buy' from 'accumulate' with an unchanged target price of INR 3,564. Even if Tesla launches a cheaper $25,000-$30,000 vehicle, it would be with fewer features than current M&M electric vehicles, the brokerage said. Among others, shares of Eicher Motors and Hero MotoCorp ended up nearly 1% and 0.8%, respectively. Global brokerages stated that they do not expect Tesla's entry into the domestic market to hurt Indian automakers significantly.

Shares of Varun Beverages and United Spirits ended up 4.7% and 2.8%, respectively. Shares of Happiest Minds Technologies and Data Patterns (India) closed 7% and 6% higher, respectively.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Metal snapped a five-session winning streak and ended 2.1% lower. The index was the second worst-hit among sectoral indices, with all of its constitutents in the red. Among gainers, the Nifty FMCG reversed early losses to end 0.4% higher. The Nifty Pharma index also ended marginally higher Monday, snapping a four-session losing streak. 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 12 rose and 38 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 7 rose and 23 fell

* On the NSE, 767 stocks rose, 2,108 fell, and 96 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,207 stocks rose, 2,810 fell, and 183 were unchanged

* Nifty IT: down 2.7%; Nifty Metal: down 2.2%; Nifty FMCG: up 0.4%

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 74454.41, down 856.65 points or 1.1%      Nifty 50: 22553.35, down 242.55 points or 1.1%

End

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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