Domestic benchmark indices opened sharply lower on May 22, 2025, mirroring the fall in the US and Asian markets.
Stock Market News: The Sensex and the Nifty 50 opened sharply lower on May 22, 2025, tracking the weakness in the US and the Asian markets. IT, FMCG and Auto emerged as the top sectoral losers
Domestic benchmark indices opened sharply lower on May 22, 2025, mirroring the fall in the US and Asian markets.
Volatility spiked as India VIX, the fear index, zoomed as much as 3.7 per cent in early trade to hit an intraday high of 18.2.
From May 19’s low, the VIX has advanced nearly 15 per cent
Earlier on May 21, the Sensex ended 0.50 per cent higher, adding 410 points to close at 81,596. The Nifty had also advanced 0.50 per cent, rising 129.55 points to settle at 24,813.45.
From the Sensex index, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Nestle India, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hindustan Unilever were the top losers, while IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, and Bharti airtel were the only gainers in early trade.
Among the Nifty 50 stocks, Power Grid, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Trent, Nestle India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Shriram Finance were the biggest losers, while Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Jio Financial Services, Tata Steel, Adani Enterprises, and Bharti Airtel were the top gainers.
The broader indices also traded lower, as the Nifty Midcap 100 quoted 0.30 per cent lower, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Microcap 250 quoted flat with negative biases.
On the sectoral front, IT, FMCG and auto fell the most, trading lower in the range of 1-1.50 per cent. Most of the sectoral indices traded in the red in early trade, except for PSU Bank and Realty, which traded flat-to-positive.
In the US stock market, the benchmark indices closed deep in the red on May 21 as Treasury yields spiked over concerns of US government’s ballooning debt if the Congress passes President Donald Trump’s proposed tax-cut bill.
The yield on benchmark US 10-year Treasury notes rose to 4.614 per cent, its highest level since mid-February, while the 30-year Treasury yield surged to 5.10 per cent, hitting an 18-month high after a lackluster 20-year bond auction.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 816.80 points, or 1.91 per cent, to close at 41,860.44. The S&P 500 fell 95.85 points, or 1.61 per cent, to end at 5,844.61, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 270.07 points, or 1.41 per cent to finish at 18,872.64.
Devarsh Vakil, head, prime research, HDFC Securities, said, “The spike in yields came as investors grappled with uncertainty following Moody's recent downgrade of the US sovereign credit rating, which coincided with a House committee's approval of Trump-backed tax cuts for a full floor vote. The proposed tax legislation has become a key source of market uncertainty, with investors concerned that revenue reductions could further increase the government's debt burden and worsen the federal deficit. This backdrop of fiscal concerns has sustained pressure on government bonds and broader market sentiment.”
Asian Markets, in early trade on May 22, mirrored the weak sentiment investors in the US had.
Thr Hong Kong-based Hang Seng traded around 0.50 per cent lower, China’s SSE Composite and SZSE Component also traded in the red, some 0.30 odd per cent lower. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 traded nearly 1 per cent lower, while the broader Topix index quote in the red by more than 0.50 per cent. South Korea’s KOSPI index bled the most, falling around 1.4 per cent in today’s trade.