September 20, 2025

Mumbai witnessed a slight market chill on Friday as the Indian equity indices dipped almost 0.5%, ending a hot three-day winning spree. The reason? The United States reversed sanctions relief given to India at Iran's Chabahar port, putting a dampener on investor excitement. But don’t be fooled—the week closed with a cheerful 0.8% rise, making it the third week in a row of market gains! The heavyweight BSE Sensex fell by 387.73 points to finish at 82,626.23, and the NSE Nifty softened by 96.55 points to close at 25,327.05. According to U R Bhat, co-founder & director of Alphaniti, "Investors booked profits today after the upmove in the past couple of weeks and the revocation of sanctions relief for India at Iran's Chabahar port by the US also induced some caution." The buzz around tariff talks between India and the US is intensifying, but final decisions might only come by the end of November. Bhat warned, "Gains cannot be sustained on the news of negotiations alone." That means traders are playing it safe, keeping cash on hand. On the stock front, HCL Technologies took the biggest hit, dropping 1.6%. Other big names like ICICI Bank and Trent slid over 1% each. Sectors showed mixed reactions—Bank Nifty and Nifty IT indexes dipped 0.5%, FMCG and Auto lost 0.4%, but the Nifty PSU Bank index gained 1.3%. Rajesh Palviya, head of Technical and Derivatives at Axis Securities, described Friday's dip as a "pause in the up move," pointing out that after Nifty’s lively 3% jump in September, some profit booking and sector shuffling were only natural. Interestingly, midcap and smallcap stocks actually rose, with the Midcap 150 up 1.6% and Smallcap 250 gaining 2.1% over the week. Investor confidence seems steady, with better market breadth and a put-call ratio dropping below 1. Palviya predicts, "Nifty is expected to be around 25,750-26,000 levels next month during the peak festive season," while the downside may hold firmly above 25,200. Market risk remains low too—India's Volatility Index edged up just 0.8% to settle at 9.97, after touching a record low earlier. Foreign investors were net buyers, snapping up shares worth ₹390.7 crore, while domestic investors bought ₹2,105.2 crore. Despite some ongoing global jitters, Bhat believes foreign selling might slow down soon. "Nifty is likely to oscillate in a tight range of around 1% or thereabouts on either side until a tariff settlement has been reached between India and the US," he said. His advice to investors: "Buy on declines but keep 15-20% in cash as a settlement will be reached and the economy is reasonably buoyant on the domestic front." Meanwhile, in the wider Asian market, stocks took a dip—Taiwan fell 0.7%, Japan 0.6%, South Korea 0.5%, and China 0.3%, while Indonesia enjoyed a small 0.5% rise. Hong Kong closed flat. The Indian market may have caught a small chill, but the overall mood stays warm and optimistic, gearing up for a lively festive season ahead!

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Tags: Indian stock market, Nifty, Sensex, Us sanctions, Chabahar port, Profit booking,