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Informist, Thursday, Jul. 24, 2025

By Gopika Balasubramanium

MUMBAI – Benchmark equity indices are likely to extend losses on Friday as the June quarter earnings have failed to cheer the Street. Analysts said the underlying trend in the market is bearish and there is nothing exceedingly positive for the market to rise, even as India's macroeconomic scenario continued to be favourable for growth. Investors will keep a track on the June quarter results of Shriram Finance, Cipla, and Bajaj Finserv, due on Friday.

Analysts said foreign investors maintained their short positions in the futures and options market and this is indicative of their cautious stance on the market for the near-term. Foreign investors sold Indian equities worth INR 117.78 billion or $1.34 billion during Jul 1-15 amid global uncertainty, delays in trade talks between the US and India, and mixed June quarter earnings, Ashish Sherigar, derivatives analyst at NVS Brokerage, said. He also said foreign portfolio investors were shifting to safer assets. 

Some analysts said the India and the UK signing the free trade agreement could be a fillip to the current bearish tone in the market while others think there would not be much of an impact as the deal was announced some time back. On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Keir Starmer signed a free trade agreement, which will allow duty-free access to nearly 100% of India's exports to the UK. India's labour-intensive sectors, such as textiles, footwear, gem and jewellery, and engineering goods, are set to get a boost under the trade agreement.

On Thursday, the Nifty 50 closed at 25062.10 points, down 157.80 points or 0.6%. Only 14 of the Nifty 50 constituents managed to end in the green. The BSE Sensex closed at 82184.17 points, down 542.47 points or 0.7%. Technical analysts expect the Nifty 50 to find support at the 25000-24750 levels and face resistance at the 25250-25500 levels in the near term. On Friday, they expect the 50-stock index to be in a range of 24950-25250 points. The Nifty 50 is likely to close lower on a month-on-month basis, snapping the four-month streak of continuous gains. The index must rise by at least 460 points to reverse this trend. However, on a week-on-week basis, the 50-stock index is expected to close higher if it holds above 25000 points on Friday. 

On the earnings front, Cipla is expected to report its lowest profit growth in the last 12 quarters due to a weak pricing environment in the US and moderate sales growth in India. The stock is expected to move between INR 1,450 and INR 1,540 ahead of the release of its June quarter earnings. Shriram Finance's net interest income is expected to 11% on year and its net profit is seen rising over 9% during the quarter. The stock is expected to move between INR 625 and INR 665. There are no estimates available with Informsit for Bajaj Finserv. The stock is likely to trade between INR 1,990 and INR 2,070. June quarter earnings of Bank of Baroda, Petronet LNG, Steel Authority of India, SBI Cards and Payment Services, Aadhar Housing Finance, and ACME Solar Holdings are also due Friday. 

Edited by Saji George Titus

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