The headline equity benchmarks traded near the flatline with some negative bias in early afternoon trade, as investor sentiment remained weak after Moody’s downgraded the US credit outlook and mixed economic signals from China. IT shares extended losses for the two consecutive trading sessions. The Nifty traded below the 25,000 level
At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, shed 53.81 points or 0.07% to 82,277.07. The Nifty 50 index fell 9.90 points or 0.04% to 25,010.40.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.67% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index jumped 1.15%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,661 shares rose and 1,274 shares fell. A total of 194 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 4.51% to 17.30. The Nifty 29 May 2025 futures were trading at 25,042.60, at a premium of 1 point as compared with the spot at 25,010.40.
The Nifty option chain for the 29 May 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 55.1 lakh contracts at the 25,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 62.7 lakh contracts was seen at 24,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index fell 1.13% to 37,543.50. The index slipped 1.95% in two consecutive trading sessions.
Mphasis (down 1.78%), Infosys (down 1.56%), Coforge (down 1.5%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 1.12%) and Tech Mahindra (down 0.96%), HCL Technologies (down 0.81%), Wipro (down 0.79%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.46%), Persistent Systems (down 0.39%) and LTIMindtree (down 0.33%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Heritage Foods tumbled 4.17% after its consolidated net profit slipped 5.74% to Rs 38.16 crore in Q4 FY25 as against Rs 40.49 crore in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations jumped 10.30% year on year to Rs 1,048.5 crore in Q4 FY25.
Bharat Bijlee tanked 10.15%. The company reported a standalone net profit of Rs 50.31 crore in Q4 FY25, up 3.66% as against Rs 48.53 crore in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations jumped 5.38% year on year to Rs 619.10 crore in the fourth quarter of FY25.
Data Patterns (India) rallied 1.90% after the company’s standalone net profit surged 60.45% to Rs 114.08 crore in Q4 FY25 as against Rs 71.10 crore posted in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations zoomed 117.35% YoY to Rs 396.21 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2025.