Share Market Highlights: Market Ends in Deep Red This Week, Nifty Falls Below 25000, Sensex Drops 501

Share Market Highlights: The Indian stock market fell significantly today, beginning on a negative note and trading under pressure throughout the session. By 3:36 PM, the Nifty had dropped 143 points to 24,968, while the Sensex had fallen 501 points to 81,757. Bank Nifty also fell by 545 points, finishing at 56,283. Except for the Media and Metal sectors, all key sectoral indexes closed in the red, with significant losses in Pharma, Private Banks, PSU Banks, FMCG, and Telecom, which fell by 0.5% to 1%. The top gainers were Wipro, Bajaj Finance, and Tata Steel, which increased by 2.44%, 2.03%, and 1.54%, respectively. Axis Bank was the largest loser, falling 5.22%, followed by Shriram Finance and Bharat Electronics. Several financial equities, including SBI Life, HDFC Life, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, fell as much as 6% intraday.

Axis Bank Stock Witness 6% Decline 

Axis Bank’s stock fell sharply after its Q1 results showed a 3% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,243.72 Cr, mostly due to policy changes in NPA categorisation and loan upgradation.  Additionally, its GDR fell 4.8% to $64.30. The poor performance of financial companies, combined with disappointing earnings from key IT giants such as TCS and HCL Tech, further impacted market sentiment.  Despite Jio Financial and LTI Mindtree reporting excellent earnings, the Nifty Bank Index fell more than 1%, with 11 of its 12 components trading in the red.  Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,694.31 Cr on Thursday, putting additional pressure on the market. Global cues remained weak, with important indices in Japan and South Korea also trading in negative territory. With this backdrop, market participants will be keeping a careful eye on events over the next week to determine future trends.