From the Sensex firms, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Trent, NTPC and Bharat Electronics were among the gainers.
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty started the day on a firm note on Thursday (July 17, 2025) but later faced selling pressure, with investors remaining in a wait-and-watch mode, as hopes are pinned on a favourable outcome from the U.S.-India trade talks.
Fresh foreign fund outflows also dented investors’ sentiment as they preferred staying on the sidelines.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 119.05 points to 82,753.53 in opening trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 18.7 points to 25,230.75.
However, later the BSE benchmark quoted 71.51 points lower at 82,554.47, and the Nifty traded 30.30 points down at 25,182.55.
From the Sensex firms, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Trent, NTPC and Bharat Electronics were among the gainers.
However, Tech Mahindra declined over 1% after its June quarter earnings failed to cheer investors. IT services firm Tech Mahindra reported a nearly 34% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to â‚ą1,140.6 crore for the quarter ending June 30, 2025, on the back of growth in communications and financial services verticals.
ICICI Bank, Eternal, State Bank of India and Asian Paints were also among the laggards.
“There are no triggers for the market to break out of the consolidation range in which it has been stuck for two months now. Even an India-U.S. interim trade deal has been discounted by the market, leaving no scope for a sharp rally decisively breaking the range. One positive and surprise factor that can trigger a rally is a tariff rate much below 20%, say 15%, which the market has not discounted. So, watch out for developments on the trade and tariff front,” V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Results of the IT sector continue to disappoint and, therefore, this can remain a drag on the overall market, he added.
In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng traded in the positive territory while South Korea’s Kospi quoted lower.
The U.S. markets ended higher on Wednesday (July 16).
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth â‚ą1,858.15 crore on Wednesday (July 16), according to exchange data.
“Markets appear to be in a wait-and-watch mode, eyeing a major trigger to scale Nifty’s all-time high of 26,277.35. Hopes are pinned on a favourable outcome from the U.S.-India tariff talks,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd., said.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.58% to $68.92 a barrel.
On Wednesday (July 16), the Sensex edged up 63.57 points or 0.08% to settle at 82,634.48. The Nifty ended 16.25 points or 0.06% higher at 25,212.05.
Published – July 17, 2025 11:20 am IST
