In the week ended on Friday, 17 January 2025, the S&P BSE Sensex slumped 759.58 points or 0.98% to settle at 76,619.33. The Nifty 50 index tumbled 228.30 points or 0.97% to settle at 23,203.20. The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.01% to close at 43,761.23. The BSE Small-Cap index plummeted 0.78% to end at 52,311.31.
Weekly Index Movement:
The domestic equity market experienced a sharp decline on Monday, with broad-based selling across sectors. The S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 1,048.90 points or 1.36% to 76,330.01. The Nifty 50 index slipped 345.55 points or 1.47% to 23,085.95. In four consecutive trading sessions, the Sensex and Nifty dropped by 2.39% and 2.62%, respectively.
The domestic equity indices staged a rebound on Tuesday, ending a four-day losing streak. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 169.62 points or 0.22% to 76,499.63. The Nifty 50 index rose 90.10 points or 0.39% to 23,176.05. In four consecutive trading sessions, the Sensex and Nifty dropped by 2.39% and 2.62%, respectively.
The domestic equity indices closed marginally higher on Wednesday, extending gains for the second consecutive day. The S&P BSE Sensex added 224.45 points or 0.29% to 76,724.080. The Nifty 50 index rose 37.15 points or 0.16% to 23,213.20.
The key equity benchmarks concluded Thursday's trading session with moderate gains, extending their winning streak to three consecutive days. In the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rallied 318.74 points or 0.42% to 77,042.82. The Nifty 50 index rose 98.60 points or 0.42% to 23,311.80. In three consecutive trading sessions, the Sensex and Nifty gained by 0.93% and 0.97%, respectively.
The key equity indices ended with modest cuts on Friday, breaking a three-day winning streak, as Infosys and Axis Bank weighed down the market following their earnings results. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 423.49 points, or 0.55% to 76,619.33. The Nifty 50 index lost 108.60 points or 0.47% to 23,203.20.
Economy:
India's retail inflation rate, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), for December stood at 5.22%, showing a slight dip from 5.48% in November. November's CPI fell from a 14-month high of 6.21% in October, bringing the figure within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) tolerance band of 2 to 6%. India's industrial growth rose to a six-month high of 5.2% in November 2024, up from 3.7% in October, marking the third consecutive month of growth. The mining, manufacturing, and electricity sectors saw growth rates of 1.9%, 5.8%, and 4.4%, respectively.
Meanwhile, India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $5.7 billion to $634.59 billion for the week ended January 3, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday showed.
India's wholesale price inflation rose to 2.37% in December 2024, led by spike in manufactured products even though prices of food items eased, government data released on Tuesday (January 14, 2025) showed. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was 1.89% in November 2024. It was 0.86% in December 2023.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Avenue Supermarts (Dmart) declined 2.05%. The company’s consolidated net profit increased 4.8% to Rs 723.72 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 690.61 crore in Q3 FY24. Net sales jumped 17.7% YoY to Rs 15,972.55 crore during the quarter.
HCL Technologies tanked 10.33%. The company’s consolidated net profit jumped 8.41% to Rs 4,591 crore on 3.56% increase in net sales to Rs 29,890 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q2 FY25.
Meanwhile, the board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 18 per equity share for FY25. This includes a special dividend of Rs 6 per share. The record date for the payment of the aforesaid interim dividend shall be January 17, 2025.
Total contract value (TCV) of new deal wins was $2095 million at the end of December 2025 quarter. While HCLTech reported strong deal bookings, muted growth guidance dampened investor sentiment. In FY25 guidance, the company’s CC revenue growth expected to be between 4.5%- 5.0% YoY. The services CC revenue growth expected to be 4.5-5.0% YoY. Additionally, EBIT margin expected to be between 18.0% -19.0% YoY.
Reliance Industries (RIL) rallied 4.75%. The company reported a 12% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to a record high of Rs 21,930 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2024. This strong performance was driven by robust growth across its key business segments: digital services, retail, and oil-to-chemicals. RIL's Q3 revenue grew 7.7% to Rs 267,186 crore, while EBITDA climbed 7.8% to Rs 48,003 crore.
Axis Bank tumbled 4.76%. The bank’s standalone net profit increased 3.83% to Rs 6,303.77 crore on 10.17% jump in total income to Rs 36,926.14 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.
Axis Bank's Q3 results, which fell short of analyst expectations across all key metrics, triggered downgrades. Key concerns included higher slippages driven by agriculture and unsecured loans, elevated credit costs remaining the highest among the top 5 banks, and the slowest deposit growth compared to peers. While Q3 earnings appeared in line due to lower operating expenses offsetting higher provisions, analysts anticipate some weakness in the stock price. A domestic brokerage noted a slight deterioration in asset quality, with sequential increases in slippages, although NPA ratios remained relatively stable.
Infosys declined 7.71%. The IT major reported 4.61% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,806 crore on a 1.89% increase in revenues to Rs 41,764 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q2 FY25.
The IT major reported strong Q3 earnings, exceeding market expectations. However, a foreign brokerage predicted a 1% sequential revenue decline in Q4, citing factors like potential reductions in third-party items or cautious management positioning. During the post-earnings call, Infosys management acknowledged the possibility of a softer Q4, citing potential headwinds such as slight furloughs, fewer working days, and reversals of third-party revenue. Additionally, investor concerns were heightened by uncertainty surrounding the potential margin impact of the company's planned two-phase wage hike.
LTIMindtree fell 3.87%. The company’s consolidated net profit slipped 13.18% to Rs 1,086.7 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 1,251.6 crore in Q2 FY25. Revenue from operations increased 2.36% QoQ to Rs 9,660.9 crore during the quarter.
Aether Industries fell 4.8%. The company reported 148.94% surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 43.39 crore on 41.4% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 219.68 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation slipped 1.42%. The firm informed that it has executed a loan agreement of Rs 31,802 crore with State Bank of India consortium, to finance the projects planned at Bina on 16 January 2024.
Global Markets:
China's exports and imports in December beat expectations by a significant margin. Exports rose 10.7% from a year earlier, beating Reuters’ expectations of 7.3% year-on-year growth. The country’s imports in December unexpectedly rose 1%, compared with Reuters’ estimates of a 1.5% decline.
The Labor Department reported that US nonfarm payrolls increased by 256,000 jobs in December, the largest increase since March. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%.
The United Kingdom (UK) Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.5% YoY in December after increasing by 2.6% in November, the data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. The annual core CPI (excluding volatile food and energy items) accelerated by 3.2% in the same period, compared to a 3.5% rise in November.
The US Producer Price Index (PPI), a key indicator of consumer price inflation, came in at 0.2% on Tuesday, lower than expected. The PPI, which measures the change in the price of goods sold by manufacturers, remained unchanged compared to the previous reading.
China's economy grew by 5% year-on-year in 2024, with a notable upswing in the final quarter of the year. China's industrial production grew 6.2% year on year in December, government data showed on Friday. It compares to a 5.4% rise seen in the prior month. Meanwhile, Chinese retail sales rose 3.7% in December, accelerating sharply from the 3.0% rise seen in November.
US retail sales climbed by 0.4% in December, reaching $729.2 billion, according to the US Census Bureau's report on Thursday. This figure was lower than November’s 0.8% increase.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ended Jan. 11, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 256,000 jobs in December, while the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1% from 4.2% in November.