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Key gauges end lower amid profit-booking
Jun-17-2025

Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Tuesday amid profit-booking after a sharp rally in the previous session as investors turned cautious in view of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. Besides, investors preferred to stay on the sidelines due to rising global crude oil prices and the upcoming US Fed interest rate decision later this week.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

India’s trade deficit narrows to $21.88 billion in May: According to data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India’s trade deficit narrowed to $21.88 billion in May from $26.43 billion in April. The decrease came as imports fell by 1.7% year on year. 

India’s unemployment rate rises to 5.6% in May: The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation's Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) - Monthly Bulletin has showed that India’s unemployment rate for the month of May rose to 5.6% against 5.1% in April this year. During the same period, the unemployment rate (UR) among females has increased to 5.8% compared to the male UR of 5.6% at the country level. 

India's merchandise exports to US rise by 16.93% to $8.83 billion in May: The commerce ministry in its latest data has showed that India's merchandise exports to the US rose by 16.93 per cent to $8.83 billion in May 2025, while imports dipped by 5.76 per cent to $3.62 billion during the month. 

India Inc likely to report stable revenue growth in Q1 FY2026: Credit rating agency, Icra in its latest report has said that India Inc. is expected to report stable revenue growth in Q1 FY2026, on the back of resilient domestic demand. 

Global front: European markets were trading lower amid concerns that military conflicts in the Middle East could increase the global inflationary risk by straining oil supply. Asian markets settled mostly higher as traders remained cautiously optimistic that the conflict between Israel and Iran will remain relatively contained.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 212.85 points or 0.26% to 81,583.30 and the CNX Nifty was down by 93.10 points or 0.37% to 24,853.40.  

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 81,890.15 and 81,427.01 respectively. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.56%, while Small cap index was down by 0.67%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.64% and TECK up by 0.47%, while Healthcare down by 1.82%, Metal down by 1.29%, Oil & Gas down by 0.92%, Basic Materials down by 0.86% and Energy down by 0.73% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 1.33%, Infosys up by 1.01%, Asian Paints up by 0.93%, TCS up by 0.57% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.18%, Eternal down by 1.92%, Tata Motors down by 1.70%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.58% and IndusInd Bank down by 1.40% were the top losers.  

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, Icra in its latest report has said that India Inc. is expected to report stable revenue growth in Q1 FY2026, on the back of resilient domestic demand. The agency said that rural demand is expected to remain healthy, while urban demand looks set to recover supported by income tax relief and easing food inflation. However, the ongoing geopolitical tensions continue to impact demand sentiments, especially for export-oriented sectors such as agro-chemicals, textiles, auto and auto components, cut and polished diamonds, and IT services.

ICRA’s analysis of the performance of 589 listed companies (excluding financial sector entities) in Q4 FY2025 revealed 7.6% YoY revenue growth, supported by improved demand across consumption-oriented sectors like consumer durables, retail, hotels and airlines as well as infrastructure-oriented sectors like power, real estate and construction. On the other hand, sectors like iron and steel saw some decline, following lower realisations owing to weak global demand and influx of cheaper imports from China.

As per the rating agency, the recovery in the operating profit margins (OPM) for India Inc. witnessed over the past quarters is likely to be sustained at around 18.2-18.5% in Q1 FY2026, supported by robust demand owing to improved consumer sentiments and softening of some input costs like crude oil, coal and steel. Coupled with the expected decline in interest costs following the rate cuts, this shall lead to an improvement in the interest coverage ratio to around 5.1-5.2 times in Q1 FY2026.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 24,982.05 and 24,813.70. There were 11 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.  

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 1.66%, Infosys up by 0.87%, Asian Paints up by 0.86%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.54% and TCS up by 0.45%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 2.31%, Eternal down by 2.06%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.00%, Tata Motors down by 1.99% and Sun Pharma down by 1.91% were the top losers.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 40.94 points or 0.46% to 8,834.28, France’s CAC fell 85.35 points or 1.1% to 7,656.89 and Germany’s DAX lost 310.57 points or 1.31% to 23,388.55.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday tracking Wall Street's gains overnight as investors grew hopeful that the escalating Israel-Iran conflict would remain contained, easing concerns over broader geopolitical fallout. Japanese shares gained after the Bank of Japan left interest rates unchanged, while the central bank also said it would slow the pace of government bond purchases starting next April.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,387.40

-1.33

-0.04

Hang Seng

23,980.30

-80.69

-0.34

Jakarta Composite

7,155.85

38.26

0.53

KLSE Composite

1,511.64

-8.35

-0.55

Nikkei 225

38,536.74

225.41

0.58

Straits Times

3,930.64

22.18

0.56

KOSPI Composite

2,950.30

3.64

0.12

Taiwan Weighted

22,211.59

161.69

0.73
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