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Informist, Friday, Jul. 25, 2025

By Gopika Balasubramanium

MUMBAI – Benchmark equity indices ended sharply lower on Friday at their one-month lows as June quarter earnings continued to disappoint the Street and also foreign institutional investors sold equities. These indices fell below their crucial support levels and a recovery from this will likely be difficult in the near term, analysts said. Market participants looked past the India-UK trade deal, which some analysts think was because it was already priced-in. 

On Friday, the Nifty 50 closed at 24837 points, down 225.10 points or 0.9%. The 50-stock index failed to hold 25000 points after managing to do so for the entire week in a rather bearish scenario. The Nifty 50 closed lower on a month-on-month basis, snapping the trend of four months of continuous rise. So far in July, the 50-stock index has fallen 2.7%. Till Thursday, the Nifty 50 was expected to close higher on a week-on-week basis, snapping the three-week streak of losses. However, Friday's fall in the index limited it from reversing the trend. On a weekly basis, this would be the lowest close in six weeks in a row. The BSE Sensex closed at 81463.09 points, down 721.08 points or 0.9%. 

Broader market indices also fell sharply on Friday, continuing to underperform benchmark indices. The Nifty Smallcap 50 index faced selling pressure the most among its peers and closed 2% lower. Among mid- and small-cap indices, the latter underperformed with the Nifty Midcap 50 and the Nifty Midcap 100 closing 1.4-1.6% lower.  

Analysts also said that the dilemma in the market has increased as to whether they should increase their positions in the market or hold on to the current investments. Foreign investors are, however, bearish on Indian equities as there is no visibility on earnings growth, rich valuations, and uncertainty on US-India trade deal. The fear gauge of Dalal Street, the India VIX, surged 5% to close at 11.2750, rising for the second straight session.

Only seven Nifty 50 constituents--Cipla, SBI Life Insurance Co., Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, HDFC Life Insurance Co., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Bharti Airtel--closed higher on Friday. Cipla closed 3% higher and it was the top gainer of the Nifty 50. The company declared its June quarter earnings during market hours. The stock gained after company posted better than expected results, and also on its management's comments that Cipla does not see any potential tariffs on imports of drugs into the US to have a 'debilitating' impact on generic drugs makers. 

SBI Life Insurance Co. closed 2% higher after it posted an on-year growth in its net profit and net premium income for the June quarter, even as both the metrics fell sequentially. Brokerages were largely positive on the insurer's June quarter performance and no rating downgrades were done. Nuvama Institutional Equities raised the target price of the stock by 7% to INR 2,250 and maintained 'buy' rating. 

Among the stocks that fell, Bajaj Finance was the worst hit and closed 4.7% lower. The company had reported its June quarter earnings which was largely in line with expectations. However, its gross NPA ratio rose sharply on quarter to 1.03% from 0.86%. Brokerages expressed concern on credit costs being at elevated levels pertaining to challenges in two-wheeler and three wheeler and medium, small, and micro enterprises loan books. Nirmal Bang expects assests under management for the aforementioned categories to be low, even when the company took significant credit actions. 

Among Nifty 200 constituents, shares of Phoenix Mills on Friday snapped their three-day losing run and closed 5.4% higher after the company posted an on-year growth in consolidated net profit for the first time after four quarters. The stock was the top gainer in the Nifty 200. The company's board has approved acquiring a 49% stake in its subsidiary Island Star Mall Developers for INR 54.59 billion from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Nuvama Institutional Equities said sees the stake acquisition will be significantly positive for Phoenix Mills, considering the strong growth potential of the arm.

Meanwhile, shares of APL Apollo Tubes closed 8.5% lower and were the worst hit in the Nifty 200 index. The stock fell after the company cut its volume guidance for 2025-26 (Apr-Mar). The pipe-maker revised its sales volume guidance downwards to 10-15% from 15-20%, primarily due to a slowdown in demand in the first half of the year. Systematix Institutional Equities downgraded the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut its target price by 16% to INR 1,718 as "near term outlook has turned cautious on the back of weak demand outlook." 

Indian Energy Exchange closed 9.6% higher and was the best performing stock in the Nifty 500 index. The company reported robust earnings for the June quarter, with its net profit rising 21% on year and revenue rising over 13%. The stock was up after closing in the red for seven straight sessions. Chennai Petroleum Corp. closed 9.7% lower after the company posted a consolidated net loss of INR 401 million against a INR 3.57 billion in the year-ago period.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 7 rose and 43 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 2 rose and 28 fell

* On the NSE, 591 stocks rose, 2,352 fell, and 192 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,116 stocks rose, 2,893 fell, and 145 were unchanged

* Nifty Media: down  2.6%; Nifty Energy: down 2.2%; Nifty Healthcare: up 0.7%.

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 81463.09, down 721.08 points or 0.9%      Nifty 50: 24837, down 225.10 points or 0.9%

End

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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