India Stocks: India's equity benchmarks fall, dragged down by Bajaj Finance

Bajaj Finance

25/07/2025 05:28

Updates for morning trade

By Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran

July 25 (Reuters) - India's equity benchmarks fell in early trade on Friday, dragged down by Bajaj Finance on asset quality concerns, while investors weighed the newly signed trade pact with Britain that will cut tariffs on goods ranging from textiles to whisky and cars.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI fell 0.53% to 24,930.9 points and the BSE Sensex .BSESN lost 0.45% to 81,807.28 as of 9:55 a.m. IST.

Thirteen of the 16 major sectors logged losses. The broader small-cap .NIFSMCP100 and mid-cap .NIFMDCP100 indexes fell 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively.

Bajaj Finance BJFN.NS dropped 5% as multiple brokerages flagged asset-quality stress in the MSME segment, despite the non-bank lender reporting a profit beat in the June quarter. It was the top decliner on the Nifty 50.

Nestle India NEST.NS lost 1%, extending a more than 5% slip on Thursday after posting a lower quarterly profit hurt by rising costs.

"Market sentiment has turned cautious due to weak earnings in Bajaj Finance, IT and consumer stocks," said Hardik Matalia, analyst at Choice Equity Broking.

Meanwhile, India and Britain signed a free-trade agreement (FTA) on Thursday during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to London, sealing a deal to lower tariffs on goods from textiles to whisky and cars and allow more market access for businesses.

Although the FTA should boost sentiment, the market is unlikely to see any major upside until there is clarity on U.S. trade negotiations, three analysts said.

Bucking the trend, SBI Life Insurance SBIL.NS gained 2.5% after posting a higher quarterly profit driven by policy renewals.

Trident TRIE.NS rose 4.7% after reporting a rise in first-quarter profit on lower expenses and on the back of the India-UK trade deal.

Indian Energy Exchange IIAN.NS, which sank 30% on Thursday on fears of rising competition from new pricing rules, jumped 9%, aided by quarterly profit growth.

 (Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Sonia Cheema)

 ((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com;))