Sensex settles 542 pts lower; Nifty ends below 25,100; IT shares under pressure

Business Standard

24-07-2025

The domestic equity benchmarks ended with moderate losses today, pressured by intensified selling in IT stocks following disappointing earnings from major IT companies, which dampened investor sentiment on Dalal Street.
Global cues further dragged sentiment. The White Houses announcement that U.S. President Donald Trump will visit the Federal Reserve on Thursday an unexpected move has intensified tensions with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, creating uncertainty in global markets.
Adding to the pessimism, there was no progress on the interim trade deal between India and the U.S. ahead of Washingtons 1 August deadline. According to media reports, negotiations between the countries have stalled over tariff reductions on key agricultural and dairy products.
The Nifty settled below 25,100 level. PSU Bank, pharma and auto shares advanced while IT, FMCG and realty shares declined.
As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex slumped 542.47 points or 0.66% to 82,184.17, while the Nifty 50 fell 157.80 points or 0.63% to 25,062.10.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.43%, and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.50%.
Market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,415 stocks declining and only 1,642 advancing. Meanwhile, 164 stocks remained unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, added 1.97% to 10.72.
Economy:
The HSBC India Manufacturing PMI climbed to 59.2 in July 2025 from 58.4 in the previous month, according to preliminary estimates. The latest figure signaled a robust expansion in manufacturing activity and marked the highest reading in nearly 17-and-a-half years, highlighting the sector's continued momentum.
The HSBC India Services PMI declined to 59.4 in July 2025 from 60.4 in the previous month, preliminary readings showed. The latest figure marked a slowdown from the fastest expansion in ten months, as output growth eased compared to the prior month.
The HSBC India Composite PMI fell to 60.7 in July 2025 from a final 61.0 in June, which was a 14-month high, flash data showed. Despite the slight dip, the latest result remained well above its long-run average of 54.8. Services activity rose at a slightly slower pace, though still robust by historical standards, while manufacturing output grew the most since April 2024.
IPO Update:
The initial public offer (IPO) of Brigade Hotel Ventures received bids for 2,73,75,890 shares as against 5,11,93,987 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:30 IST on Thursday (24 July 2025). The issue was subscribed 0.53 times.
The initial public offer (IPO) of Indiqube Spaces bids for 3,11,43,798 shares as against 1,71,48,335 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:30 IST on Thursday (24 July 2025). The issue was subscribed 1.82 times.
The initial public offer (IPO) of GNG Electronics bids for 33,29,10,963 shares as against 1,41,88,644 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:30 IST on Thursday (24 July 2025). The issue was subscribed 23.46 times.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index fell 2.21% to 36,135.80. The index shed 0.25% in the previous trading sessions.
Coforge (down 9.28%), Persistent Systems (down 7.64%), Mphasis (down 3.1%), Tech Mahindra (down 3.06%) and LTIMindtree (down 1.84%) were the top losers. Among the other losers were Infosys (down 1.49%), HCL Technologies (down 1.48%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 1.07%).
On the other hand, Oracle Financial Services Software (up 1.9%) ,Wipro (up 0.33%) turned up.
Coforge tumbled 9.28% after the company has reported 4.8% decline in consolidated net profit (continuing business) to Rs 247.2 crore despite an 8.2% increase in revenue to Rs 3,689 crore in Q1 FY26 as compared with Q4 FY25.
The companys order intake for the quarter was $507 million. The executable order book for the next twelve months stands at $1.55 billion, a 46.9% year-over-year increase. The company signed five large deals in Q1 FY26 across North America, the UK, and APAC.
Persistent System slumped 7.64%. The IT firm has reported 7.37% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 424.94 crore on 2.82% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 3,333.59 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25. The order booking for the quarter ended on 30th June 2025, was at $520.8 million in total contract value (TCV) and at $385.3 million in annual contract value (ACV) terms.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Infosys dropped 1.31% after the companys consolidated net profit declined 1.59% to Rs 6,921 crore despite a 3.31% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 42,279 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q4 FY25.
On a year on year (YoY) basis, the companys net profit and revenue jumped 8.68% and 7.54%, respectively in Q1 FY26.
The companys total contract value (TCV) of large deal wins was $3.8 billion in Q1 FY26, with a net new of 55%. The companys total clients stood at 1,861 as on 30th June 2025 as compared with 1,867 clients as on 30th June 2024.
The IT major has informed that the voluntary attrition rate (LTM IT Services) came in at 14.4% in Q1 FY26, up from 14.1% in Q4 FY25 and 12.7% in Q1 FY25.
Oracle Financial Services Software rose 2.80% after the company reported a 4.09% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 641.9 crore on a 6.36% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 1,852.2 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25.
Nestle India dropped 5.54% after the companys standalone net profit declined 11.70% to Rs 659.23 crore in Q1 FY26, compared with Rs 746.60 crore posted in Q1 FY25. However, revenue from operations jumped 5.86% to Rs 5,096.2 crore in Q1 FY26, compared to Rs 5,096.2 crore in Q1 FY25.
Trent declined 3.95% after a foreign brokerage downgraded the stock to "neutral" from its previous "buy" rating, while also lowering the target price from Rs 6,970 to Rs 5,500 per share.
The downgrade came alongside a reduction in the brokers FY26 estimates for sales and earnings per share (EPS) by 5%-9% and 8%-13%, respectively, citing a greater-than-expected impact from cannibalisation. Cannibalisation occurs when the sales of an existing product are negatively affected by the launch of a similar offering within the same company.
Dr Reddys Laboratories added 1.64% after the companys consolidated net profit rose 1.8% to Rs 1,418.10 crore on 11.4% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 8,545.20 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25.
Thyrocare Technologies surged 11.25% after the healthcare service provider reported a 61.07% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 38.93 crore on a 23.02% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 193.03 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25.
Shares of Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) tumbled 27.97% after media reports indicated that the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has formally announced the implementation of power market coupling in India.
According to reports, under the first phase of the new regulatory framework, the day-ahead market (DAM) is expected to be coupled by January 2026. The model proposes a round-robin system where multiple power exchanges will alternately function as Market Coupling Operators (MCOs).
Market coupling is a mechanism through which buy and sell bids from all power exchanges are aggregated and centrally matched to arrive at a single, uniform market clearing price (MCP). Once implemented, this would mean only one trading price for electricity across all exchanges at any given time, eliminating price variations across platforms.
Cigniti Technologies declined 6.85% after the companys consolidated net profit dropped 9.97% to Rs 65.9 crore on a 0.74% rise in revenue to Rs 534.2 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q4 FY25.
Force Motors rallied 12.39% after the company reported a 52.39% surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 176.36 crore on a 21.88% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 2,297.25 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25.
Natco Pharma slipped 3.36%. The company informed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has issued an EIR for its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) division located in Mekaguda, Hyderabad, Telangana.
The US FDA had conducted an inspection at the companys aforementioned unit from 9 June to 13 June 2025.
Post the inspection, the company received one observation in Form-483, which was classified as voluntary action indicated (VAI).
Bajaj Steel Industries dropped 6.39% after the companys consolidated net profit plunged 78.93% to Rs 7.40 crore in Q1 FY26 as against Rs 35.13 crore posted in Q1 FY25. Revenue from operations declined 23.74% YoY to Rs 107.53 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2025.
Global Markets:
The US US Dow Jones index futures are currently down by 130 points, indicating a negative start for US stocks today.
European shares advanced, while Asian stocks ended higher on Thursday as fresh trade developments between the U.S. and Japan, alongside encouraging signals of a deal with the European Union, buoyed investor sentiment.
Investor focus shifted to Washingtons evolving trade strategy, with U.S. President Donald Trump setting his sights on the European Union after finalizing a sweeping agreement with Japan. Negotiators from both the U.S. and EU are now under pressure to strike a deal by August 1, as the Trump administration appears firm on its tariff timeline.
On Tuesday, the U.S. and Japan sealed what Trump described as "the largest trade deal in history." The agreement includes a $550 billion investment from Japan into the U.S. economy. In return, tariffs on Japanese exports to the American marketranging from automobiles to agricultural goodshave been reduced to 15% from the previously proposed 25%. Trump hailed the deal as a mutually beneficial win that opens Japans markets to U.S. cars, trucks, and farm products.
Economic data from Japan, however, painted a mixed picture. The au Jibun manufacturing PMI dropped to 48.8 in Julys preliminary reading, below expectations of 50.2 and down from 50.1 in June, signaling a mild contraction. On the other hand, the services sector showed resilience, with the services PMI rising to 53.5 from 51.7 a month earlier.
Overnight on Wall Street, U.S. equities finished higher after Trump promoted his trade accomplishments with Japan and Indonesia on Truth Social. He also hinted at easing tariffs if other nations opened their markets to American goods. Adding to the momentum, Washington unveiled its new AI Action (WA: ACT) Plan.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.14% to a six-month high, while the S&P 500 gained 0.78% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.61%.