Sensex Slips 271 Points, Nifty Falls Below 25,000 As IT Stocks Weigh

Stock Market Closing Bell: Domestic equity benchmark indices traded under pressure on May 19, 2025, dragged largely by IT stocks, as overall sentiments turned cautious after rating agency Moody's downgraded the US government's credit outlook. 

However, gains in banks and financial services stocks capped further losses.

The 30-share Sensex ended the day lower by 271.17 points or 0.33 per cent at 82,059.42. Likewise, the Nifty 50 index slipped below the crucial level of 25,000, slipping 74.35 points or 0.30 per cent at 24,945.45.

Sensex, Nifty 50: Top Gainers & Losers

From the Sensex index, Power Grid Corporation led the gains, followed by Bajaj Finance, NTPC, State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finserv.

Among the top losers in the 30-share benchmark index were Eternal (formerly Zomato), Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints and HCL Technologies.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, Bajaj Auto, Shriram Finance, Power Grid Corporation, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Finance, and NTPC were the top gainers, while Eternal, Grasim Industries, Infosys, Tata Consumer Products, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, TCS, and Tech Mahindra weighed on the index.

Realty, PSU Bank Lead Gains, IT Emerges Top Sectoral Loser

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Realty emerged as the top gainer, rising 2.26 per cent. It was followed by Nifty PSU Bank, which gained 1.46 per cent. Other sectoral gainers were Nifty Pharma, Nifty Healthcare, Nifty Auto, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Metal.

Nifty IT was the top sectoral loser in today's session, declining by 1.30 per cent. It was followed by Nifty Media, Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Consumer Durables.

Nifty Bank gained 65.8 points or 0.12 per cent to end at 55,420.70.

Broader Markets Outperform

Broader market indices outperformed the benchmark indices, as Nifty Midcap 100 rose slightly by 0.08 per cent, and Nifty Smallcap 100 closed higher by 0.51 per cent. Micro-cap stocks saw the sharpest gains, as the Nifty Microcap 250 advanced 1.19 per cent.

Volatility rose as the fear index India VIX climbed 4.86 per cent.

Global Markets

Wall Street notched its fifth consecutive day of gains on May 16, 2025, as the de-escalation of tariff tensions between the US and China earlier in the week kept the stocks buoyed.

The Dow Jones rose 331.99 points or 0.78 per cent to 42,654.74, while the S&P 500 gained 41.45 points or 0.70 per cent to 5,958.38, and the Nasdaq added 98.78 points or 0.52 per cent to close at 19,211.10.

In Asian Markets, stocks largely ended on a negative note. The widely-tracked Hong Kong-based Hang Seng slipped marginally by 12.33 points or 0.05 per cent to end at 23,332.72.

China's SZSE Component, which tracks 500 stocks that are traded at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, dipped marginally by 8.51 points or 0.08 per cent to close at 10,171.09.

Japan's Nikkei 225 saw a sharper fall, declining by 225.09 points or 0.68 per cent to end at 37,498.63. The country's broader index, Topix, concluded the session flat-to-negative, falling 2.06 per cent or 0.07 per cent to settle at 2,738.39.

South Korea's 928-constituent KOSPI also saw sharper losses as it closed 23.45 points or 0.89 per cent lower at 2,603.42.

Primary Market Action

Virtual Galaxy Infotech’s initial public offering (IPO) IPO made a strong debut on the D-Street today, listing on the NSE SME platform with a premium of 26.76 per cent at Rs 180 apiece. 

The technology-driven company specialises in digital solutions and software services. No other main board or SME IPOs got listed or opened for public subscriptions today.

Global and Domestic Cues

Last week, US President Donald Trump signalled that a trade deal between his country and India is likely to be finalised soon. Stock market participants will be keenly watching how this unfolds.

Investors will also be reacting to the next set of March quarter earnings for fiscal 2024-25 (Q4 FY25) tomorrow.