The domestic equity benchmarks ended the week with significant losses, pressured by weak earnings from major IT and banking stocks and cautious global sentiment amid ongoing tariff concerns. Although easing domestic inflation briefly lifted investor hopes, overall volatility and uncertainty dominated, leading to declines in the key indices, even as the broader market outperformed during the week.
In the week ended on Friday, 18 July 2025, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 742.74 points or 0.90% to settle at 81,757.73. The Nifty 50 index slipped 181.45 points or 0.72% to settle at 24,968.40. The BSE Mid-Cap index jumped 1.04% to close at 46,775.77. The BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.46% to end at 55,285.44.
Weekly Index Movement:
Equity benchmarks ended lower for the fourth straight session on Monday, slipping despite a softer WPI inflation print. The S&P BSE Sensex declined 247.01 points or 0.30% to 82,253.46. The Nifty 50 index lost 67.55 points or 0.27% to 25,082.30. In four consecutive trading sessions, the Sensex and the Nifty have dropped 1.74% and 1.72%, respectively.
Equity benchmarks ended a four-day losing streak with modest gains on Tuesday, as easing CPI inflation lifted investor sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 317.45 points or 0.39% to 82,570.91. The Nifty 50 index added 113.50 points or 0.45% to 25,195.80.
Equity benchmarks ended with modest gains on Wednesday, despite sentiment remained cautious amid renewed concerns over rising U.S. inflation and lingering uncertainty over trade tariffs. The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 63.57 points or 0.08% to 82,634.48. The Nifty 50 index added 16.25 points or 0.06% to 25,212.05.
Equity benchmarks ended slightly lower on Thursday as investors navigated mixed global cues and a choppy trading session marked by the weekly F&O expiry. The S&P BSE Sensex declined 375.24 points or 0.45% to 82,259.24. The Nifty 50 index fell 100.60 points or 0.40% to 25,111.45.
The key equity benchmark ended with modest cuts on Friday, marking a decline for the second straight session amid weak earnings and cautious global sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex, declined 501.51 points or 0.61% to 81,757.73. The Nifty 50 index fell 143.05 points or 0.57% to 24,968.40. In the past two trading sessions, the Sensex and Nifty declined 1.06% and 0.97%, respectively.
Economy:
India's wholesale price index (WPI) eased to -0.13% in June 2025, according to data released by the Commerce and Industry ministry on Monday. Since March the WPI has been declining steadily, hitting a 14-month low of 0.39% in the previous month.
The negative rate of inflation in June 2025 is primarily due to decrease in prices of food articles, mineral oils, manufacture of basic metals, crude petroleum & natural gas, etc.
India's forex reserves dropped by $3.049 billion to $699.736 billion in the week ended July 4, the RBI said on Friday.
For the week ended July 4, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, dropped by $3.537 billion to $591.287 billion, the data released on Friday showed.
The gold reserves were up by $342 million to $84.846 billion during the week, the RBI said.
India's reserve position with the IMF jumped by $107 million to $4.735 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.
India’s retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), cooled to a multi-year low of 2.10% in June 2025, thanks to a sharp dip in food prices. The data, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday, 14 July 2025, marks the lowest year-on-year inflation rate since January 2019. For comparison, CPI inflation stood at 2.82% in May 2025 and 5.08% in June 2024.
India’s trade deficit for June 2025 narrowed to $18.78 billion, compared to $21.88 billion in May, government data showed Tuesday.
Stocks in Spotlight:
HCL Technologies fell 5.37%. The company reported a 10.77% drop in net profit to Rs 3,843 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2025, compared to Rs 4,307 crore in the previous quarter same fiscal. Revenue from operations increased slightly to Rs 30,349 crore in Q1 FY26, up from Rs 30,246 crore in Q4 FY25.
Avenue Supermarts (Dmart) shed 0.40%. The company’s consolidated net profit fell 0.11% to Rs 772.97 crore despite a 16.28% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 16,359.70 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25. The company opened 9 stores during the quarter. Its total store stands at 424 as on 30th June 2025.
Wipro rallied 3.42%. The IT major's net income for the Q1 quarter was at Rs 3330 crore, decrease of 6.7% QoQ and increase of 10.9% YoY. Gross revenue at Rs 22130 crore, decrease of 1.6% QoQ and increase of 0.8% YoY. Total bookings was at $4,971 million, up by 24.1% QoQ and 50.7% YoY in constant currency. The company expects revenue from its IT Services business segment to be in the range of $2,560 million to $2,612 million. This translates to sequential guidance of (-)1.0% to 1.0% in constant currency terms.
Axis Bank fell 6.35%. The bank’s net profit de-grew 4% YoY to Rs 5,806 crore in Q1FY26. The bank’s Net Interest Income (NII) was up 1% YoY to Rs 13,560 crore. Net Interest Margin (NIM) for Q1FY26 stood at 3.80% as against 3.97% in Q4FY25 and 4.05% in Q1FY25.
Tech Mahindra declined 3.39%. The company reported a 2.24% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,140.6 crore on a 0.25% fall in revenue from operations to Rs 13,351.2 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q4 FY25.
State Bank of India (SBI) rose 1.83%. The lender announced that its Central Board has approved raising up to Rs 20,000 crore through Basel III compliant Additional Tier 1 and Tier 2 bonds in FY26.
HDFC Life Insurance Company declined 2.63%. The company’s standalone net profit jumped 14.40% to Rs 546.46 crore on 15.63% increase in net premium income to Rs 14,466.09 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25.
Jio Financial Services slipped 2.79%. The company’s consolidated net profit rose 3.83% to Rs 325 crore while total income jumped 48.09% to Rs 418 crore in Q1 June 2025 over Q1 June 2024.
HDB Financial Services slipped 5.53%. The company reported a 2.40% decline in net profit to Rs 567.70 crore, despite a 14.97% increase in total revenue from operations to Rs 4,465.40 crore in Q1 FY26 compared to Q1 FY25.
ITC Hotels surged 9.69%. The company reported 53.4% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 133.10 crore on a 15.5% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 815.54 crore in Q1 FY26 as compared with Q1 FY25.
Tata Technologies advanced 0.66%. The company has reported 5.1% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 170.3 crore despite a 1.9% fall in revenue from operations to Rs 1,244.3 crore in Q1 FY26 as compared with Q1 FY25.
Global Markets:
In Japan, core machinery orders slipped 0.6% in May on a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Cabinet Office. However, on a year-on-year basis, orders rose 4.4%, outperforming the 3.4% growth forecast by analysts, as per LSEG data.
Japan’s exports slipped 0.5% year-on-year in June, following a 1.7% fall in May, signaling continued weakness in external demand. Meanwhile, Trump denied plans to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, just hours after reportedly telling Republican lawmakers otherwise. The president added fuel to the trade uncertainty by reiterating a potential 25% tariff on Japanese imports, casting doubt on a comprehensive trade deal with Japan.
Japan's core inflation for June eased to 3.3%, down from May’s 29-month high of 3.7%, with rice prices showing signs of moderation. Headline inflation also slipped to 3.3%, from 3.5% the previous month. However, the "core-core" inflation gauge, closely tracked by the Bank of Japan, as it strips out both food and energy, edged up to 3.4%, hinting that underlying price pressures are still in play.
Singapore’s economy delivered a better-than-expected performance in the second quarter, growing 4.3% year-on-year compared to 3.9% in the previous quarter. On a quarterly basis, GDP expanded 1.4%, marking a strong rebound from the 0.5% contraction seen earlier.
On the flip side, Singapore delivered a surprise. Its non-oil domestic exports surged 13% in June versus a year ago, sharply rebounding from a 3.9% drop in May. This marked the fastest growth since July 2024.
June’s economic indicators in China offered a mixed bag. Retail sales growth eased to 4.8% year-on-year, down from 6.4% in May. On the brighter side, industrial output beat forecasts, rising 6.8% year-on-year, while fixed asset investment climbed 2.8% in the first half of 2025. The urban unemployment rate held steady at 5% in June, unchanged from May but lower than the two-year high of 5.4% in February.
Indonesia’s central bank cuts the benchmark rate by 25 bps to 5.25%. Governor Perry Warjiyo said the central bank would continue to observe room for more rate cuts, citing an expectation of low inflation through 2026, a stable rupiah and a bleak global economic outlook.
The U.K.'s annual inflation rate stood at 3.6% in June, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), compared with 3.4% in May.
Eurozone’s consumer price index (CPI) rose to 2% in June, up from 1.9% in May, signaling a slight uptick in inflation. Meanwhile, the UK unemployment rate climbed to 4.7% in May, compared to 4.6% in the previous month, pointing to some softness in the labor market.
German producer prices fell by 1.3% year-on-year in June, the federal statistics office reported on Friday.
In U.S., June's consumer price index came in slightly hotter than expected, reigniting concerns that fresh tariffs could add more heat to inflation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumer prices rose 2.7% year-on-year and climbed 0.3% between May and June.
Economic data brought a mixed bag. Producer prices in the U.S. remained flat in June on a monthly basis, with annual growth slowing to 2.3% from May’s 2.7%. However, consumer prices showed signs of heating up, rising 2.7% year-on-year in June compared to 2.4% in May. On a monthly basis, inflation stood at 0.3%, matching expectations.