 "D-St takes breather amid profit booking; Sensex dips 200 pts, Nifty at 25K")
Stock Market Closing Bell, Friday, May 16, 2025: Following a range-bound session, Indian equity benchmarks settled in red on Friday amid lack of fresh triggers and selective profit booking in key sectors such as IT, Metal and Banks.
After hitting day's low of 82,146.95, the Sensex closed at 82,330.59, down by 200.15 points or 0.24 per cent. The Nifty50 closed at 25,019.80 levels, down by 42.30 points or 0.17 per cent. Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments said that the market witnessed mild profit booking following a sharp rally in the previous session. Despite this, investor sentiment remained upbeat, with sustained momentum in mid- and small-cap stocks, as well as rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate, NBFCs, automobiles, and consumer durables.
However, the broader markets outperformed the benchmarks with sectors like railways and defence witnessing continous buying. The Nifty Midcap 100 index settled 0.94 per cent higher, led by gains in Cochin Shipyard (13 per cent), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (10.7 per cent), RVNL (9.18 per cent), Premier Energies (9.6 per cent) and SJVN (6.1 per cent). Among others, Container Corporation of India, HUDCO, Tube Investments, Tata Technologies, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, IREDA, IRCTC and NHPC were up in the range of 3 per cent to 6 per cent.
Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 1.86 per cent, led by gains in IFCI (14.8 per cent), Rites (14.8 per cent), Titagarh Rail Systems (12.7 per cent), Garden Reach Shipbuilders (10 per cent), Data Patterns (9.75 per cent) and Anant Raj up 8.8 per cent.
On the Sectoral front, Nifty IT was the top laggard, followed by Healthcare, Metal, Pharma and Financial Services. Nifty IT fell 0.84 per cent, pulled by selling index heavyweights HCL Tech, Infosys and Wipro.
Nifty Realty and Media rose 1.64 per cent and 1.11 per cent, each. Nifty Auto, Energy, FMCG, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas also rose up to 1 per cent. Nifty Realty emerged as the top sectoral gainer, led by gains in Anant Raj, Raymond, Brigade Enterprises, Sobha, and Oberoi Realty.
"Defence stocks also continued their upward trajectory, supported by a strong sectoral outlook. Optimism is being fuelled by expectations of imminent resolutions in US-China and India-US trade relations, which are easing concerns over potential economic fallout," Nair added.
Among Sensex constituents, 16 out of 30 stocks closed with gains. The top gainers included Eternal (formerly Zomato) up by 1.38 per cent, Hindustan Unilever (1.10 per cent), Asian Paints (0.98 per cent), ITC (0.80 per cent) and Tata Motors and 0.36 per cent.
According to Ajit Mishra, senior vice president for research at Religare Broking, more than the recovery in the benchmark index, the broad-based rebound has offered greater relief to market participants. Sustained FII inflows and stable global markets are further contributing to the positive sentiment.
"We continue to maintain our bullish outlook and recommend focusing on selective stock-picking. Going forward, corporate earnings and global market trends will remain key factors to watch in the absence of any major events," Mishra said.
Market Technical View
According to analysts at Bajaj Broking, index on weekly chart has formed a sizable bull candle with a higher high and higher low signaling continuation of the up move. The index in the process closed firmly above the December 2024 high (24,857).
Going ahead, we expect Nifty to maintain positive bias and head towards 25,200-25,300 levels being the measuring implication of the recent range breakout. Some consolidation is likely around the 25,200-25,300 levels. While a breakout above 25,300 will open further upside towards 25,750 in the coming weeks.
The recent breakout zone, along with last week low placed near 24,400–24,500 levels is expected to serve as a crucial support for the Nifty. Stock specific action will continue to remain in focus as we progress through the Q4 FY25 earning session.