Informist, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025

By Gopika Balasubramanium

MUMBAI – India's headline indices closed higher for the fifth straight session Wednesday, after moving in a tight range during the day. Investors heavily bought shares of information technology and fast-moving consumer goods companies while offloading shares of financial companies and banks.

The Nifty 50 closed at 25050.55 points, up 69.90 points or 0.3%. The index closed above 25000 points for the first time since Jul. 24, despite index heavyweights ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries closing lower. The index had breached 25000 points on Monday and Tuesday as well but failed to close above it.

The 50-stock index moved in a thin range of 24929-25088 points during the session. The index can close higher for the second week in a row, if it sustains the gains. The index had fallen for the past six weeks, moving between 24300 and 25400 points. The BSE Sensex Wednesday closed at 81857.84 points, up 213.45 points or 0.3%.

The proposed reduction in goods and services tax into two slabs is keeping market sentiment positive, analysts said. The proposed GST reform is expected to spur demand in the second half of the current financial year, especially benefitting consumer-facing sectors such as automobiles and FMCG.

Improvement in relations between India and China has also lent confidence to investors amid worsening diplomatic relations with US. India and China have agreed to reopen border trade through three designated trading points, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a release Tuesday. The two also agreed to resume direct flights between the Chinese mainland and India "at the earliest".

Broader market indices closed 0.1-0.6% higher. Mid-cap indices performed better than small-caps. The Nifty Smallcap 50 closed just 0.1% higher. The Nifty Midcap 50 closed 0.6% higher. Sectoral indices were largely positive, with Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG leading the gains. On the other hand, the Nifty Media fell the most and closed 2% lower.

Information technology stocks saw huge buying interest, with all the Nifty IT constituents ending in the green. Large-cap stocks such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services closed higher by 3.9% and 2.7%, respectively. Coforge, Mphasis, and Persistent Systems ended the session over 2-3% higher. The Nifty IT index closed 2.7% higher. Analysts at domestic brokerages said the valuations of these companies are really comfortable and they could be recovering from oversold positions.

Investors bought shares of FMCG companies as they are a safer bet due to their dependency on domestic demand rather than exports amid uncertainty over US tariffs. The proposed cut in GST has also boosted sentiment for these stocks as it will make a slew of products affordable and spur demand. The Nifty FMCG closed 1.4% higher and was among the best-performing sectoral indices. Emami and Britannia Industries gained the most, closing 4.1% and 3.7% higher, respectively.

Online gaming companies were in focus on reports that the government will likely propose restrictions on online games that involve monetary gains under the draft Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025. Reports said the Cabinet on Tuesday approved this draft Bill, which comes under new Online Gaming Bill 2025, and it is likely to be tabled in the Parliament soon. The proposed bill will prohibit online games involving real money and impose stringent penalties for violations, and offering online money gains could attract fines up to INR 100 million and a maximum of three years in jail, reports said. Nazara Technologies and Delta Corp. closed lower by nearly 13% and 3.4%, respectively. OnMobile Global recovered and closed 1.1% higher. Nazara Technologies fell despite clarifying that it has "no direct exposure to real money gaming businesses."

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 26 rose and 24 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 16 rose and 14 fell

* On the NSE, 1,712 stocks rose, 1,263 fell, and 86 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,337 stocks rose, 1,728 fell, and 170 were unchanged

* Nifty IT: up 2.7%; Nifty FMCG: up 1.4%; Nifty Media: down 2%

BSE NSE

Sensex: 81857.84, up 213.45 points or 0.3% Nifty 50: 25050.55, up 69.90 points or 0.3%

End

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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