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Informist, Wednesday, May 28, 2025

By Akash Mandal

MUMBAI – Benchmark indices ended lower Wednesday after trading in a range amid sharp gains seen in the recent sessions. Indices had briefly turned green just after the session began but swiftly turned back red amid profit booking at higher levels and remained lower for the rest of the session. However, the fall was not much and the Nifty 50 moved in a narrow range of just around 130 points for the entire session compared to a range of nearly 240 points on Tuesday.

The Nifty 50 ended at 24752.45 points, down 73.75 points or 0.3%. ITC was the biggest drag on the index and ended over 3% lower. The stock had fallen nearly 5% in early trade after multiple large deals aggregating over 327 million shares were executed on the NSE at an average price of INR 417 per share, a discount to the spot price. British American Tobacco's subsidiary Tobacco Manufacturers (India) was likely one of the sellers in these deals. Other consumer stocks such as Nestle India and Tata Consumer Products also ended lower by 2% and 1%, respectively. The BSE Sensex closed lower by 239.31 points or 0.3% at 81312.32 points.

IndusInd Bank ended 2% lower after brokerage JP Morgan downgraded the stock to "underweight" from "neutral" and cut its target price sharply to INR 550 from INR 1,100. This implies a downside of nearly 32% from the stock's closing price of INR 805.15 on Wednesday. The brokerage said the bank's pre-provisioning operating profit and return on assets will take time to rebound following the recent accounting discrepancies, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing a note by JP Morgan.

Defence stocks continued their winning run and the Nifty India Defence ended around 1% higher, gaining for the sixth straight session. The index notched an all-time high of 8775 points earlier in the session after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft Programme Execution Model, which will provide equal opportunities to both private and public sectors on a competitive basis, enabling them to bid for defence projects either individually, as a joint venture, or as a consortium. 

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Cochin Shipyard, and Bharat Electronics ended 1-2% higher each. Bucking the trend, missile and allied defence equipment manufacturer Bharat Dynamics fell 2% after its bottom line for the March quarter fell 2% on year despite its revenue doubling.

Sectoral indices ended mixed Wednesday. Public sector banks rose again and the Nifty PSU Bank ended 1% higher. The index has risen for the fourth straight session and has ended higher in 12 of the last 14 sessions, rising over 10% in that period. Bank of India, Canara Bank, and Indian Bank closed 2-3% higher.

A host of stocks reacted to their March quarter results. Life Insurance Corp. of India ended over 8% higher and was the top gainer in the Nifty 200 after the insurer's bottom line for Jan-Mar rose 38% on year on the back of lower expenses. Techno Electric & Engineering Co. gained 15% and was among the top gainers on the Nifty 500 after its consolidated net profit for the reporting quarter rose 74% on year due to a sharp rise in its revenues.

Shares of Schneider Electric Infrastructure extended gains for the second straight session after its bottom line for the March quarter surged manifold on year. The stock ended nearly 12% higher Wednesday, and has gained 15% since its earnings were announced after market hours Monday. Shares of ITI hit its 10% upper circuit at INR 340.15 in the last half-and-hour of trading after its losses in the March quarter sharply narrowed on year. Trading on the stock was paused after it triggered its upper band. Triveni Engineering & Industries had surged 10% but pared some gains to end 6% higher after both its bottom line and top line saw double-digit growth on year.

On the other hand, Gujarat Fluorochemicals ended 4% lower. While its bottom line for the March quarter came in above the Street's view, ICICI Securities downgraded the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' and reduced its target price by nearly 9% to INR 3,790, citing a miss on the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation front. Bosch ended nearly 3% lower after its bottom line for the latest quarter declined on year. Shares of 3M India ended nearly 4% lower after its net profit for the quarter plunged 59% on year. The stock, which traded 1% lower ahead of its earnings, fell further after the announcement.

Shares of Belrise Industries made its debut on the bourses Wednesday. The stock ended at INR 97.41 on the National Stock Exchange, down nearly 3% from its listing price of INR 100 but up over 8% from its issue price of INR 90.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 14 rose and 36 fell 

* Of the Sensex stocks, 10 rose and 20 fell

* On the NSE, 1,462 stocks rose, 1,395 fell, and 83 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,002 stocks rose, 1,928 fell, and 156 were unchanged

* Nifty Media: up 1%; Nifty PSU Bank: up 1%; Nifty FMCG: down 1.5%

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 81312.32, down 239.31 points or 0.3%      Nifty 50: 24752.45, down 73.75 points or 0.3%

End

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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