Nifty holds above 25,500 on expiry day, Sensex gains over 200 points; banking, financial stocks drag

Gains in auto, FMCG, and media stocks offset weakness in PSU banks.

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Equity benchmark index Nifty 50 extended its morning momentum to trade above the key 25,500 mark on its weekly expiry, while Sensex gained around 200 points in the afternoon session on Thursday, July 3.

At 11:45 a.m., the Sensex was up 215.27 points or 0.26 percent at 83,624.96, and the Nifty was up 61.60 points or 0.24 percent at 25,515.00. About 1913 shares advanced, 1457 shares declined, and 151 shares unchanged.

Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, SBI Life Insurance, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top negative contributors to the Nifty index, as banking and financials stocks dragged.

Experts suggest that the gains are a result of a positive sentiment, as U.S. President Donald Trump announced a strategic trade agreement with Vietnam, boosting global equities to new highs. This gave investors hopes that a trade deal between U.S. and India would be inked soon.

On the sectoral front, Bank Nifty was flat, but the PSU bank index tumbled 70 basis points as investors took profits off the table. The auto, media and FMCG indices, however, traded with gains, supporting the sentiment.

The broader markets rose in tandem with the headline indices, indicating investor participation across stocks' market-capitalizations. The Nifty Midcap index gained around 0.15 percent, while its smallcap peer was around 0.2 percent higher.

"For any meaningful upside, the index must sustain above 25,500, with the next hurdle placed around 25,600–25,700. On the downside, 25,400 remains immediate support, while 25,300 is a critical level to watch for bulls," said Mandar Bhojane, Research Analyst, Choice Broking.

On the stock specific front, shares of e-tailer FSN E-Commerce Ventures fell four percent after around 6 crore shares or 2.3 percent equity in the firm was exchanged.

Value retailer Avenue Supermarts Ltd, also known as the DMart parent, saw its shares tumble four percent after posting its business update for the quarter ended March, which came in under expectations.

Shares of M&M Financial Services rose after the company shared a stable business update for the first quarter of the financial year 2025–26. In the April–June quarter, the company reported disbursements worth Rs 12,800 crore, which is a small increase of 1 percent compared to the same period last year. Its total business assets grew by 15 percent year-on-year to Rs 1.22 lakh crore.

Global brokerage firm Macquarie listed HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Aditya Birla Capital (AB Capital), Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Shriram Finance, and LIC as its top picks in India’s financial sector. The firm said it prefers large private sector banks and believes that some Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) offer better risk-reward opportunities.