7 Key Highlights from Indian Stock Market: Weekly Performance, Economic Updates, and Global Cues

The key Indian equity indices closed the week ended 25 July 2025 in negative territory, dragged by weak Quarterly Results, global uncertainty, and continued foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows. Early in the week, strong Q1 FY26 earnings from HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank lifted banking and financial stocks, but the momentum weakened as IT earnings disappointed and U.S.-India trade talks stalled ahead of the 1 August deadline. The Nifty 50 settled below the 24,850 level, with broader indices underperforming.

Weekly Index Movement

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 294.64 points or 0.36 per cent to 81,463.09, while the Nifty 50 lost 131.4 points or 0.53 per cent to 24,837. The BSE Mid-Cap and BSE Small-Cap indices dropped 1.46 per cent and 1.88 per cent, respectively.

• Monday: Indices rebounded; Sensex rose 442.61 points (0.54 per cent) to 82,200.34, Nifty gained 122.30 points (0.49 per cent) to 25,090.70.

• Tuesday: Flat; Sensex declined 13.53 points (0.02 per cent) to 82,186.61, Nifty slipped 29.80 points (0.12 per cent) to 25,060.90.

• Wednesday: Gains continued; Sensex jumped 539.83 points (0.66 per cent) to 82,726.64, Nifty advanced 159 points (0.63 per cent) to 25,219.90.

• Thursday: Turned negative; Sensex fell 542.47 points (0.66 per cent) to 82,184.17, Nifty dropped 157.80 points (0.63 per cent) to 25,062.10.

• Friday: Sharp losses; Sensex declined 721.08 points (0.88 per cent) to 81,463.09.

Economy and Trade

India and the UK signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) projected to boost annual bilateral trade by USD 34 billion. Tariffs will be reduced on 90 per cent of goods from the UK, while 99 per cent of Indian exports will enjoy duty-free access. The HSBC India Manufacturing PMI climbed to 59.2 in July, marking the fastest growth in nearly 17 years. Services PMI fell to 59.4, and Composite PMI eased to 60.7, still well above the long-term average. Core industries grew 1.7 per cent in June, while forex reserves dropped by USD 3.04 billion to USD 699.74 billion.

Stocks in Focus

Reliance Industries fell 5.73 per cent despite a 76.5 per cent YoY jump in PAT to Rs 30,783 crore, supported by a Rs 8,924 crore gain from sale of listed investments. ICICI Bank rose 3.61 per cent on a 15.45 per cent YoY rise in net profit to Rs 12,768.21 crore, while HDFC Bank gained 2.40 per cent, declaring a special interim dividend of Rs 5 per share and a 1:1 bonus issue. Eternal surged 20.36 per cent as Blinkit revenue overtook food delivery; however, consolidated PAT fell 90.12 per cent to Rs 25 crore. Infosys fell 4.47 per cent on weaker-than-expected Q1 FY26 earnings, while UltraTech Cement shed 2.07 per cent despite a 48.91 per cent rise in profit.

IT stocks faced pressure: Coforge tumbled 9.12 per cent, Persistent Systems fell 7.20 per cent, and Hexaware Technologies slumped 14.33 per cent. Nestle India dropped 7.92 per cent after reporting an 11.70 per cent decline in net profit. Shriram Finance fell 4.64 per cent despite an 8.84 per cent rise in profit, while Cipla and SBI Life gained 3.30 per cent and 2.61 per cent, respectively, on strong Q1 performance.

Global Markets

China’s central bank kept its key loan prime rates unchanged. Japan’s manufacturing PMI contracted to 48.8, while services PMI rose to 53.5. UK unemployment climbed to 4.7 per cent, the highest since 2021, raising concerns about economic recovery.

Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.