Benchmark equity indices ended Thursday’s trading session with notable declines as widespread selling pressure affected key sectors, including financials, IT, and banking. The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 592.67 points to settle at 84,404.46, and the NSE Nifty50 slipped 176.05 points to close at 25,877.85, reflecting a risk-averse mood across the market.
Market sentiment weakened after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who suggested that the recent interest rate cut could be the final one for 2025. This tempered expectations of additional monetary easing and strengthened the U.S. dollar, triggering risk-off sentiment in emerging markets such as India. Domestic traders also navigated mixed quarterly earnings and volatility associated with the derivatives expiry, further dragging indices lower. Meanwhile, geopolitical uncertainty around ongoing trade discussions between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping added to caution among investors.
Despite the overall downtrend, a small group of stocks recorded gains. Larsen & Toubro led the pack with a 0.91% rise, supported by steady interest in infrastructure-linked counters. Bharat Electronics Limited followed, adding 0.66%, while cement major UltraTech Cement gained 0.46%. Maruti Suzuki inched up 0.29% and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone saw a modest 0.22% increase, providing pockets of resilience.
Losses were more pronounced among heavyweight stocks. Bharti Airtel emerged as the biggest laggard, falling 1.54%, followed by Power Grid Corporation with a 1.35% drop. Tech Mahindra declined 1.33%, Infosys slipped 1.14%, and Bajaj Finance shed 1.04%, collectively weighing on the broader market trend. The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices also edged lower, though by narrower margins of 0.09% and 0.10% respectively, indicating mild weakness in the broader market. Meanwhile, India VIX, the benchmark volatility index, rose 0.79%, signalling heightened uncertainty.
Sector-wise performance painted a mixed but largely negative picture. Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma managed gains of 0.45% and 0.59% respectively, while Nifty Realty advanced slightly by 0.04%. However, most other sectoral indices ended in the red. Notable declines included Nifty Financial Services 25/50, which fell 0.72%, Nifty Private Bank down 0.74%, Nifty Healthcare Index sliding 0.70%, and Nifty IT losing 0.51%. Consumer-focused, energy, and media indices also posted mild declines. The overall market tone remained weak, with selling pressure in IT, telecom, and financial names overshadowing selective strength in infra and cement stocks as investors held a cautious stance ahead of key global and domestic developments.
