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Informist, Wednesday, Jul. 23, 2025

By Gopika Balasubramanium

MUMBAI – India's headline equity indices ended sharply higher on Wednesday, as sentiment was positive globally following Japan's signing of a trade deal with the US. The sentiment was upbeat, with hopes that similar deals can be cut with other countries as US President Donald Trump's self-imposed deadline of Aug. 1 approaches. Indices worldwide rose as investors celebrated the latest trade deal. India is likely to sign a free trade agreement with the UK during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, which started on Wednesday. 

The Nifty 50 closed at 25219.90 points, up 159 points or 0.6%. Unlike the trend of stock-specific movements earlier this week, which resulted in the Nifty 50 moving in a tight range, there was broad-based buying on Wednesday. Three Nifty 50 stocks--HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, and ICICI Bank--hit all-time highs on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Eternal's market capitalisation on Wednesday surpassed that of big names such as Power Grid Corp. of India, Wipro, Tata Motors, Coal India, Asian Paints, and 19 other Nifty 50 constituents. The BSE Sensex closed at 82726.64 points, up 539.83 points or 0.7%.

Earlier in the day, Japan signed a massive trade deal with the US, under which Japanese imports to the US will attract only 15% import duties, including for automobiles, down from the previous 25%. The US signed another deal with Indonesia, reducing tariffs to 19%. Sentiment was upbeat after the trade deals, pushing up equity indices in Asia and Europe. Next week, Chinese and US officials will meet to negotiate on a potential deal.

Back in India, analysts had said that domestic indices have been in a narrow range, as there have been no significant developments regarding India-US trade deals, coupled with lukewarm earnings in the June quarter. The head of research at a domestic brokerage had said earlier in the week that US tariffs on Indian goods should be lower than those on other South Asian countries. There was positivity in the market, as India and the UK are likely to sign a free trade agreement soon, which is expected to benefit sectors such as automobiles, textiles, footwear, and chemicals.     

Broader market indices underperformed benchmark indices for the second day in a row. Mid-cap indices outperformed their small-cap peers. The Nifty Midcap 50 closed 0.4% higher while the Nifty Smallcap 50 closed flat.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Auto index gained the most, closing 0.9% higher. Tata Motors, Samvardhana Motherson International, and Bharat Forge closed 1.6-2.5% higher. Earlier in the day, Mahindra & Mahindra hit its all-time high at INR 3,303 but came off highs to close at INR 3,268.80, up 0.4%. Automobile stocks were higher due to optimism surrounding the sector, as tariffs on Japanese automobiles were reduced to a significantly lower level of 15%. 

Other indices, such as the Nifty Healthcare, Nifty Financial Services, and Nifty Bank, also closed in the green, up 0.8% each. Healthcare stocks, including Max Healthcare Institute, Fortis Healthcare, and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, closed 1.8-3.0% higher. Among banking stocks, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank hit record highs at INR 1,490.00 and INR 2,029.80, respectively, on Wednesday.   

Meanwhile, investors sold Infosys shares aggressively in the last few minutes of trading. The stock, which traded 1% higher, shed most of its gains and closed 0.2% higher. The company declared its June quarter earnings shortly after market close. Tata Consumer Products and Dr Reddy's Laboratories closed 2.1% lower and 0.6% higher, respectively, ahead of their results.

Indian Railway Finance Corp. closed 3.1% higher after the company reported robust on-year growth in both its net profit and revenue for the June quarter. Shares of Dalmia Bharat closed 2.2% lower after the company's bottom line for the June quarter fell short of analysts' estimates. The cement-maker's net profit for the June quarter was INR 3.93 billion lower than analysts' estimate of INR 4.17 billion. Shares of One 97 Communications came off their highs and closed up 1.9% after posting upbeat earnings for the June quarter. The company's net profit and revenues saw robust on-year growth in the quarter.

Shares of Lodha Developers fell sharply after a large number of the company's shares changed hands on the NSE at a discount to the previous closing price. Over 9.95 million shares of the company, equivalent to a 1% stake, exchanged hands on the NSE immediately after the market opened. The stock fell more to an intraday low of INR 1,330.10 and closed 7.5% lower. 

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

* Of the Sensex stocks, 25 rose and 5 fell

* On the NSE, 1,497 stocks rose, 1,460 fell, and 98 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,005 stocks rose, 2,025 fell, and 168 were unchanged

* Nifty Auto: up 0.9%; Nifty Healthcare: up 0.8%; Nifty Realty: down 2.6%.

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 82726.64, up 539.83 points or 0.7         Nifty 50: 25219.90, up 159 points or 0.6%

End

Edited by Saji George Titus

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