Large-caps drag markets lower; Nifty ends below 25,900 amid global risk-off mood

The Nifty closed lower on Thursday, dragged by losses in large-cap stocks and weakness in pharma and financial names, as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments raised doubts over further US interest rate reduction in 2025, while mixed domestic earnings weighed on sentiment.

The Nifty 50 fell 176 points to close at 25,878, while the Sensex dropped 593 points to 84,404. The market breadth favoured declines, with the advance-decline ratio at 2:3. The Nifty Bank index slipped 354 points to 58,031, while the midcap index was down 53 points at 60,096.

Pharma stocks were the top laggards, with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories falling the most on concerns related to semaglutide developments. Cipla slipped up to 3% after CEO Umang Vohra announced his decision to step down. Coal India emerged as the top Nifty gainer, rising nearly 2% on firm coal prices. L&T closed in the green but off highs after positive management commentary.

Among earnings reactions, PB Fintech surged 7% after posting an all-round Q2 beat, while BHEL, Aditya Birla Capital, and Canara Bank rose 3–7%. LIC Housing Finance fell after missing estimates, while Union Bank of India ended lower following an in-line quarter.

"The US Federal Reserve’s widely anticipated 25-bps rate cut initially buoyed sentiment, but comments from Chair Jerome Powell that this could be the last cut of 2025 dampened expectations of further easing," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. "A stronger dollar and risk-off tone across emerging markets, coupled with mixed domestic Q2 earnings and F&O expiry, added to market volatility," he added.

Vodafone Idea and Indus Towers fell after the Supreme Court released its AGR order, while IEX dropped 3% as the appellate tribunal deferred the market coupling case to November 28. Varun Beverages declined 2% on mixed post-earnings commentary, while Hyundai Motor rose 2% and Coromandel International slipped 3% after their Q2 results.