Benchmarks tumble for second day; Nifty slips below 24,850 as bears tighten grip

The domestic equity benchmarks ended deep in the red on Friday, with the Nifty 50 breaching the key 24,850 level and posting losses for the second straight session. The selloff was broad-based, sparing only pharma and healthcare among NSE's sectoral indices. IT, metals, and auto stocks bore the brunt of the decline, dragging benchmarks lower.

Muted corporate earnings, lacklustre global cues, and premium valuations in index heavyweights all weighed on sentiment. Adding to the pressure was persistent foreign institutional selling, which kept investors on edge. Caution also stemmed from lingering uncertainty around U.S.-India tariff talks ahead of the crucial August 1 deadline, the European Central Bank's decision to pause rate cuts, and slowing inflows from domestic institutional investors after a period of strong accumulation.

The S&P BSE Sensex tanked 721.08 points or 0.88% to 81,463.09. The Nifty 50 index declined 225.10 points or 0.90% to 24,837. In two consecutive trading sessions, the Sensex declined 1.52% while the Nifty fell 1.51%.

Bajaj Finance (down 4.73%), Infosys (down 2.44%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.75%) were major drags today.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.46% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index tanked 1.88%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1116 stocks advanced, 2893 declined, and 145 remained unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 5.15% to 11.28.

Economy:

India and the United Kingdom have taken a major step in building a stronger economic partnership with the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) yesterday under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The agreement was signed by Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal and Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds in the presence of the two Prime Ministers.

This marks a significant milestone in India's engagement with major developed economies and reflects a shared commitment to strengthening economic integration. As the world's fourth and sixth largest economies respectively, India and the UK's bilateral engagement holds global economic significance. The signing of the India-UK CETA follows the successful conclusion of negotiations announced on 6th May 2025. The bilateral trade between the two countries stand at nearly $56 billion, with a joint goal to double this figure by 2030.

CETA secures unprecedented duty-free access for 99% of India's exports to the UK, covering nearly the entire trade basket. This is expected to open new opportunities for labour-intensive industries such as textiles, marine products, leather, footwear, sports goods, toys, and gems and jewellery, alongside fast-growing sectors like engineering goods, auto components, and organic chemicals.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rallied 0.52% to 6.362 from the previous close of 6.329.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 86.5475 compared with its close of 86.4000 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2025 settlement declined 0.58% to Rs 98,154.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.33% to 97.44.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.25% to 4.419.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for September 2025 settlement added 11 cents or 0.16% to $ 69.29 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Most European shares traded lower on Friday, as weakness in automobile stocks weighed on the market. Investors also remained cautious ahead of updates on EU-U.S. trade talks and the upcoming U.S. tariff deadline set by President Donald Trump.

Most Asian indices ended lower as investors assessed recent trade developments. Japanese stocks retreated from record highs, with profit-taking ahead of a crucial week that includes the U.S. tariff deadline set by President Donald Trump and several major central bank meetings.

Mixed inflation data, however, dampened the sentiment for Japanese investors. Tokyo consumer inflation data for July showed a slightly bigger-than-widely anticipated easing in prices. But core inflation still remained above the Bank of Japan's 2% annual target, keeping uncertainty over the central bank's rate hikes largely in play.

Focus now is on China's Politburo meeting, a convening of top political leaders, for more cues on the Chinese economy. The meeting was supposed to be convened in late July.

US stocks were mixed on Thursday, with the S&P 500 notching its fourth record close in a row as tech earnings from Alphabet pointed to AI as a key growth catalyst.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to also close at a fresh record, while the S&P 500 ended up just 0.1% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6% amid a post-earnings slide in IBM (IBM) shares.

Alphabet beat widely reported market's second-quarter earnings expectations and doubled down on its AI spending spree. The Google parent's shares rose alongside other AI-linked stocks such as Nvidia, helping buoy the tech-focused gauges.

Tesla's stock sank after an earnings miss, a continued slump in European sales, and a warning from CEO Elon Musk that the EV maker faced rough quarters as President Trump's budget bill killed off tax credits.

Optimism around trade deals remained strong after the US-Japan agreement helped push the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to new record highs on Wednesday. Meanwhile, media reports indicated that the US and EU are nearing a deal to impose a 15% tariff on most European imports, significantly lower than the previously threatened 30%.

Stocks in Spotlight:

SBI Life Insurance Company rose 2.01% after the life insurer's profit after tax (PAT) rose 14.41% year-on-year to Rs 594.37 crore in Q1-FY26, driven by a healthy uptick in premium collections and a surge in embedded value. Gross Written Premium (GWP) for the quarter stood at Rs 17,810 crore, marking a 14% jump from Rs 15,570 crore in Q1-FY25. Within this, New Business Premium (NBP) rose 3% to Rs 7,270 crore, while Renewal Premium (RP) shot up 24% to Rs 10,550 crore.

Cipla rallied 2.95% after the company reported 10.18% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,297.62 crore on a 3.93% rise in total revenue from operations to Rs 6,957.47 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25.

Bajaj Consumer Care dropped 3.97% to Rs 234.75 after the company announced a share buyback of up to Rs 186.60 crore. The board approved the buyback of up to 64.34 lakh equity shares (4.69% equity) as of 31 March 2025. The buyback will be executed via the tender offer route at Rs 290 per share, aggregating to a maximum outlay of Rs 186.6 crore. This represents 23.70% of standalone and 24.88% of consolidated free reserves and paid-up share capital, well within the SEBI-permitted limit of 25%.

Hexaware Technologies slumped 10.71% after the company's consolidated adjusted profit rose 7.7% to Rs 386.30 crore in Q2 June 2025 (Q2CY25) over Q1 March 2025 (Q1CY25). Consolidated revenue rose 1.6% QoQ to Rs 3260.70 crore in Q2CY25. In constant currency, revenue growth was 1.3% QoQ and 7.5% YoY. Extraordinary expenses surged to Rs 142 crore in Q2CY25 from Rs 8.7 crore in Q1CY25.

Phoenix Mills jumped 4.95% after its consolidated revenue grew 5% YoY to Rs 953 crore, aided by a 4% rise in revenue from core businesses ' retail, offices, and hotels ' which stood at Rs 881 crore. The residential and other segments contributed Rs 72 crore, a healthy 21% jump from the year-ago period. Net profit after minority interest and associate share came in at Rs 241 crore, marking a 4% growth YoY. The company also managed to reduce its finance cost by 8% even as depreciation rose 21%.

KFin Technologies declined 5.88% after the company's consolidated net profit dropped 9.16% to Rs 77.26 crore on a 3.06% rise in revenue to Rs 274.06 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q4 FY25.

Avantel tumbled 7.65% after the company's consolidated net profit tanked 56.23% to Rs 3.23 crore in Q1 FY26, compared with 7.38 crore in Q1 FY25. However, revenue from operations marginally increased by 0.29% year on year to Rs 51.91 crore in Q1 FY26.

JSW Energy tanked 2.75%. The company's said that its wholly owned subsidiary JSW Neo Energy has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) under the SECI' FDRE Tranche IV scheme.

ACC slipped 2.27% after the cement maker's consolidated net profit fell 50.01% to Rs 375.38 crore in Q1 in FY26 as against Rs 751.03 crore posted in Q4 FY25. However, revenue from operations shed to Rs 6,036.11 crore in Q1 FY26 as against Rs 6,039.70 crore reported in Q4 FY25. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, net profit rose 4.35%, while total income increased 18.05% in Q1 FY26.

Tanla Platforms tumbled 4.04% after the company's consolidated net profit tanked 16.15% to Rs 118.41 crore in Q1 FY26, compared with 141.22 crore in Q1 FY25. However, revenue from operations rose 3.84% year on year to Rs 1,040.66 crore in Q1 FY26.

IPO Update:

GNG Electronics' IPO received bids for 2,08,26,69,120 shares as against 1,41,88,644 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:45 IST on Friday (25 July 2025). The issue was subscribed 146.78 times.

Indiqube Spaces' IPO received bids for 21,12,50,970 shares as against 1,71,48,335 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:45 IST on Friday (25 July 2025). The issue was subscribed 12.32 times.

Brigade Hotel Ventures' IPO received bids for 6,07,49,360 shares as against 5,11,93,987 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:45 IST on Friday (25 July 2025). The issue was subscribed 1.19 times.

Shanti Gold International's IPO received bids for 1,44,01,725 shares as against 1,26,67,200 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:45 IST on Friday (25 July 2025). The issue was subscribed 1.14 times.

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