Market Wrap, July 25: Sensex crashes 721 points; NIFTY50 ends below 24,900 for first time in over a month; Bajaj Finance top loser

The Indian stock market settled negative on Friday, July 25, tracking its Asian peers as investors remain cautious amid foreign fund outflows and June quarter earnings. Both SENSEX and NIFTY declined to fresh one-month lows.

The equity benchmark indices have slipped for the fourth straight week for the first time since October 2024, with Sensex and NIFTY50 each falling 0.72% and 0.26%, respectively. This was the longest losing streak in 2025 so far.

According to exchange data, on Thursday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹2,133.69 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,617.14 crore on a net basis.

The investors sentiment was also battered following earnings disappointments. June quarter earnings of FMCG firm Nestle India were below expectations.

Globally, the indices in the Asian market were seen mixed on Friday as investors locked in profits ahead of US President Donald Trump's tariff deadline and a host of central bank meetings.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.87%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 1.36%. South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.18%, and the Shanghai Composite was also settled 0.34% lower.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices of Wall Street settled at record highs on Thursday as robust earnings from Google parent Alphabet added to investors’ sentiment. The US-Japan trade deal and progress in talks with the European Union also fuelled the gains.

The S&P 500 inched up 0.07% to close at 6,363.35 points. The Nasdaq rose 0.18% to 21,057.96 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.70% to 44,693.91 points.

As many as 3,025 stocks traded on the NSE on Friday. Out of this, 2,352 declined and only 588 stocks advanced, while 85 scrips remained unchanged.

This indicated that the market breadth was in favour of bears.

A total of 42 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 36 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 47 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 71 touched their lower circuit bands on Friday.

NSE-listed firms' market capitalisation stood at ₹449.01 lakh crore at the end of the session.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 11.28 levels, soaring 5.15%.

The Nifty Smallcap 100 index underperformed the main indices and fell 2.1% to end at the 18,294.45 level. Swan Energy (-7.16%), Hindustan Copper (-6.25%), KFin Technologies (-5.73%), Reliance Power (-5%), and Zen Technologies (-5%) were the biggest laggards.

Losses in APL Apollo Tubes (-8.09%), BHEL (-4.385), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (-4.24%), SAIL (-4.24%), and Aditya Birla Capital (-4%) led the Nifty Midcap 100 index to tank 1.61%, ending at 58,009.45 levels.

Bajaj Finance took the lead among the losers’ pack, declining 4.81%, followed by Shriram Finance (-3.64%), IndusInd Bank (-2.64%), Bajaj Auto (-2.58%), and Tech Mahindra (-2.53%).

On the flip side, Cipla (3.17%), SBI Life Insurance (2.07%), Apollo Hospitals (1.5%), Dr. Reddy’s (0.91%), Sun Pharma (0.59%), HDFC Life Insurance (0.37%), and UltraTech Cement (0.11%) were the only gainers on the 50-share index.

Except for Nifty Pharma (0.54%), all the other sectors closed with losses on Friday. Nifty Media (-2.61%) was the biggest loser, followed by Nifty Oil and Gas (-1.96%), Nifty PSU Bank (-1.7%), Nifty Metal (-1.64%), and Nifty IT (-1.42%).