Indian markets close: Sensex plunges 589 pts, Nifty closes near 24K; IT bucks trend

India's equity benchmarks snapped their impressive seven-day winning streak on Friday, April 25, closing lower as broad-based selling pressure took hold.

While the IT sector provided a pocket of resilience, concerns over geopolitical tensions and potential profit-taking after recent gains weighed heavily on market sentiment, particularly impacting mid-and small-cap stocks.

After consistently climbing for over a week, the market succumbed to selling pressure. At the close, the 30-share BSE Sensex finished at 79,212.53, down 588.90 points or 0.74 per cent.

The broader NSE Nifty 50 index settled at 24,039.35, registering a loss of 207.35 points or 0.86 per cent.

The negative sentiment permeated the market, with breadth deteriorating significantly: on the BSE, only about 682 shares advanced compared to a substantial 3,138 declining shares, while 115 remained unchanged.

The weakness was even more pronounced in the broader market segments, with both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices tumbling by a significant 2.2 per cent each.

Geopolitical jitters and profit-taking emerge

Market participants pointed towards a confluence of factors driving the downturn.

Uncertainty surrounding India's potential response to the recent deadly terror attack and the resulting geopolitical fallout with Pakistan emerged as a key risk weighing on investor minds.

Furthermore, after seven consecutive sessions of gains, profit-booking likely contributed to the decline.

Despite the day's pullback, strong inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to provide a buffer.

Data indicated robust FII buying interest over the past week, amounting to Rs 29,513 crore, reversing an earlier trend.

Experts believe this sustained FII confidence, possibly linked to India's relative economic resilience and potential benefits from shifting global trade dynamics (including potential US trade deals, as hinted by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent), might discourage aggressive short-selling in the near term.

IT sector stands tall amidst sectoral weakness

The sectoral landscape was overwhelmingly negative, with 12 out of 13 major indices closing in the red. Nifty Pharma, PSU Bank, Energy, Oil & Gas, Realty, Infrastructure, and Auto indices were among the significant losers, declining between 1.5 and 2 per cent.

However, the Nifty IT index bucked the trend decisively, emerging as the sole sectoral gainer with an advance of over 1 per cent.

Strength in major IT constituents like TCS, Infosys, Persistent Systems, and Coforge helped cushion the headline indices from steeper falls.

Earnings impact: Maruti disappoints, SBI Life shines

Individual stock performance was heavily influenced by the ongoing Q4 earnings season:

• Maruti Suzuki: Declined over 2% after reporting a 4% drop in quarterly net profit (Rs 3,711 crore), falling short of market expectations (est. Rs 3,852 crore per Moneycontrol poll).
• SBI Life Insurance: Surged over 5%, becoming the top Nifty 50 gainer, propelled by strong quarterly results and positive brokerage outlooks (Nomura Buy target Rs 1,800; Motilal Oswal target Rs 2,000). Strong renewal premiums offset weak single premium collections.
• Axis Bank: Fell over 4% as its flat year-on-year net profit (Rs 7,118 crore) slightly missed the prior year's figure and likely disappointed investors, even though core lending income beat forecasts.

Top Nifty gainers included SBI Life, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, and UltraTech Cement, while Adani Enterprises, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, Shriram Finance, and Trent were among the major losers.