Stock market in India concludes with a decline, driven by selling off in IT and real estate sectors
The Indian stock market experienced a negative close on Thursday, 24th July 2025, as a combination of factors weighed on investor sentiment.
Mixed Q1 earnings results from various Indian companies, persistent foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows, and regulatory developments affecting key companies were the primary drivers of the market's downturn.
One of the most significant regulatory developments was the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) approving market coupling in India’s power sector, which led to a sharp plunge in the shares of Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) by 15-28%. This decline raised concerns about IEX's dominant market position.
Sectorally, the IT, FMCG, and real estate sectors were major drags, with the IT index falling around 2%, FMCG down about 1%, while PSU banks were a rare positive. The overall market lost around ₹2 lakh crore in market capitalization in a single session.
Notable losers from the Sensex basket included Trent, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj FinServ, Reliance, Infosys, Kotak Bank, HCL Tech, ITC, Asian Paints, and TCS. The Nifty IT experienced heavy selling, down 815 points or 2.21%.
The Nifty 100 closed 144 points down, with the Nifty Midcap 100 falling 346 points, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 settling 206 points down. The Nifty Fin Services tanked 169 points or 0.62%, and the Nifty FMCG fell 624 points or 1.12%.
However, not all sectors performed poorly. The pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors were among the few bright spots in an otherwise gloomy market, outperforming in the face of the challenging conditions.
In the broader market, 34 shares declined and 16 advanced from the Nifty 50. Eternal, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, and Tata Steel were among the gainers.
The rupee opened with 0.30% gains but settled near 86.40 from the day's high of 86.25. The rupee is likely to trade in a range of 85.85-86.65 in the near term.
In conclusion, the negative close was a result of mixed Q1 earnings, continued foreign capital outflows, regulatory changes impacting major players like IEX, declines in major sectors such as IT, FMCG, and real estate, and limited support from PSU banks and pharmaceuticals sectors. Despite these challenges, investors will be hoping for a more positive performance in the coming days.
[1] Indian Stock Market News [2] Business Standard [3] Economic Times
- The downturn in the Indian stock market, despite a rare positive performance from PSU banks and pharmaceutical sectors, was primarily driven by mixed Q1 earnings, continued foreign capital outflows, regulatory changes affecting real-estate players like IEX, and declines in major sectors like IT and FMCG.
- In the realm of finance and investing, the real-estate sector in India faced a challenging quarter due to regulatory developments and a series of declines, while the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors served as the few bright spots, outperforming the overall market.
