Nifty Closes Slightly Lower; Sensex Slipped Below 82,300 Mark, Broader Markets Outperform
Indian equity benchmarks Nifty and Sensex closed in the red on Friday, following a strong performance in the previous session where they had touched seven-month highs. Today’s decline was mainly attributed to profit booking after the recent sharp rally.
At the closing bell, Nifty 50 ended slightly lower, down by 0.17% at 25,020, and the Sensex dropped by 0.24%, slipping below the 82,300 mark. The Bank Nifty index closed with no change and settled at 55,355. On the weekly basis, the Nifty 50 has closed with gains of 4.21%.
Heavyweight sectors like IT and financials faced pressure. The Nifty IT index slipped 0.84%, pausing after a 7% gain over four sessions, as enthusiasm over easing U.S. recession fears and the China trade truce began to cool. Financial stocks also edged lower by 0.03%, having risen 4% in the prior sessions.
In contrast, small- and mid-cap stocks showed strength, driven by gains in defence-related companies and upbeat post-earnings moves in some key names.
Among individual stocks, Bharti Airtel declined 2.8% after Singapore Telecommunications offloaded around 1.2% of its stake worth $1.54 billion at a discounted rate.
IndusInd Bank also fell 2.2% in early trade, pressured by governance concerns and subsequent rating downgrades from several brokerages. At the closing bell, the stock price recovered and closed with a marginal loss of 0.04%.
The Nifty IT index declined by 0.84% on Friday. HCL Technologies slipped more than 2%, the most among the IT stocks, dragging the Nifty IT index down.
The key drivers of the index gains were:
On the other hand, these stocks weighed on the index:
The broader market indices ended in the green, with the Mid-cap and Small-cap 100 indices jumping by 0.94% and 1.86%, respectively, while 9 out of 17l major sectoral indices ended in the positive territory.
As of May 16, 2025, the Indian stock market witnessed positive market breadth. Out of 2,971 stocks traded on the NSE, 1,969 advanced, 911 declined, and 91 remained unchanged.
A total of 57 stocks touched their 52-week highs, while 8 hit their 52-week lows. Additionally, 175 stocks were locked in their upper circuits, whereas 33 stocks were in lower circuits.
Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.
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