Indian Stock Market Update: Mid-Week Insights & Trends

As of 28 May 2025, India stands as a critical economic juncture, marked by a mix of caution and optimism. On one hand, a slight resurgence in COVID-19 cases was observed. On the other, Indian markets demonstrated healthy resilience, driven by strong corporate earnings and continued retail investor participation.

Globally, trade-off concerns still arise, but there has been some relief which we will be discussing in the blog. Let’s now take a closer look at the mid week Indian stock market update and NIFTY/Sensex recap for the week.

Indian Stock Markets Update

The Indian stock market shows strength amidst geopolitical tensions and fluctuating global commodity prices, displaying resilience. As a part of the midweek update, Nifty 50 moved higher for the third straight month and closed at 24,752 on 28 May 2025, showing investor confidence.

Source: Nifty-50 Tradingview

A few key reasons behind the market rise are as follows:

• Strong Earnings for Q4FY25: Nifty 500 companies posted 10.5% YoY earnings growth in Q4 FY25 despite high input costs and subdued rural demand. Growth across sectors from insurance and power to pharma indicates strong corporate fundamentals.
• Global Sentiment: Stable bond yields and positive news from the US, such as delayed tariffs and stronger consumer confidence, are boosting global risk appetite and helping India.
• Institutional Buying: As of 28 May 2025, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) holdings stood at ₹17,338.96 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) holdings were ₹54,259 crore. Throughout most of May, there was aggressive buying by institutions. FIIs, who were earlier sellers, have now started buying.

 

Sector-Wise Market Performance

The Indian stock market is seeing varied activity mid-week. Let’s check the performance of various sectors to understand the current market landscape:

India’s defence sector, along with shipbuilding, is booming, emerging as a top performer with a significant 34.9% rise. Defence stocks have surged in value, driven by the government’s Make in India initiative and increasing global orders. Mutual funds focused on defence themes have delivered returns of up to 60% in just three months, reflecting growing investor interest.

On the other hand, the construction sector remains an underperformer. Despite increased infrastructure spending, challenges such as delayed project clearances, funding bottlenecks, and rising material costs have curtailed growth in this segment. A revival in this sector will be essential to boost overall GDP growth in the coming quarters.

 

Let’s also have a look at sectoral performance of other major indexes:

 

Index	Current Value (As of 28 May 2025)	% Change (1 Month)
Nifty Infra	8987	2.36%
Nifty Energy	35989	4.06%
Nifty Bank	55678	0.10%
Nifty IT	37954	7.09%
BSE Capital Goods	70647	12.68%
BSE FMCG	20373	0.98%
BSE Healthcare	42568	0.03%

COVID-19 Update

India has recently seen a slight rise in COVID-19 cases, with around 1,000 new cases reported in states like Delhi, Maharashtra, and Kerala. While the situation remains under control and far below previous peaks, this development serves as a reminder of the ongoing link between public health trends and market sentiment.

Global Economy Update

The U.S. has delayed imposing hefty 50% tariffs on European Union goods until July 9, effectively postponing additional taxes on imports. Global markets surged sharply on the news, easing trade tensions between the U.S. and the EU and raising hopes for a favourable deal. 

Investors are feeling more optimistic about trade disruptions and complex global supply chains. The U.S. Nasdaq Composite surged 2.5% on 28 May 2025 , largely due to this fresh development.

Source: Nasdaq Composite Tradingview

Consumer confidence in the U.S. jumped 12.3 points this month, reaching a level of 98 in the latest Conference Board survey released Tuesday. Notably, this is the first monthly rise since November and the biggest increase since March 2021. Broad policy shifts under President Donald Trump have recently weighed on public sentiment about the economy amid ongoing trade disputes and uncertainty.

Inflation in France rose by just 0.6% in May, falling short of expert expectations. The European Central Bank may soon cut interest rates, largely due to this unexpected slowdown in global inflation. The drop in inflation was mainly driven by lower prices in services like transport and hotels, as well as cheaper energy, including gas and electricity. Food prices, however, edged up slightly this month.

Top Earnings Updates

During the week and month, various companies announced their results. Let us look at the top companies in specific sectors by market capitalisation and review their results.

 

Company	Sector	Profit (In Rs. Crore)	YoY Rise/Decline
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd	Pharma	10,965	14.1%
Larsen & Toubro Ltd	Infrastructure	17,673	13.7%
NTPC Ltd	Power	23,953	12.3%
HDFC Bank Ltd	Bank	73,440	12.2%
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd	IT	48,797	5.9%
Hindustan Unilever Ltd	FMCG	10,671	3.8%
Tata Motors Ltd	Automobile	28,149	-11.5%
Oil & Natural Gas Corpn Ltd	Oil & Gas	38,329	-32.9%

Sun Pharma made a profit of Rs.10,965 crores with 14.1% YoY up, and it was majorly due to improving market share in India and growth in its global speciality business.

NTPC reported a profit of Rs.23,953 crores which is 12.3% YoY up. The major reason for the surge was the capacity addition of 640 MW in the first 3 quarters. Also, the subsidiary companies performed well with a profit rise of 26% more compared to the previous year.

Larsen & Toubro reported a net profit of Rs.17,673 crores with a yearly rise of 13.7%, and the major driver behind this was the strong order book execution and order book growth by 22% YoY.

HDFC Bank reported a net profit of Rs.73,440 crores, 12.2% YoY up, and the reason for the profit increase was due to healthy asset quality and reduced NPA.

Tata Consultancy, the tech giant, reported a net profit of Rs.48,797 crores, which is 5% up. Despite the profit numbers, the sentiment is still negative as this growth is slower than expected, and this slowdown was majorly due to the tariff issues showing an effect across the globe.

Hindustan Unilever reported a net profit of Rs.10,671 crores which is 3.8% YoY up, majorly due to a turnover of Rs.60,680 crores and underlying volume growth of 2%.

Tata Motors is having a tough time with net profit reaching Rs.27,149 crores, 11.5% down compared to last year due to the company’s consolidated net profit, due to the impact of a deferred tax credit worth Rs.9,000 crore in the year-ago period.

Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd reported a profit of Rs.38,329 crores, which is 32.9% down YoY. The drop was primarily driven by lower realised crude oil prices during the fourth quarter. The company achieved an average crude oil price of USD 73.72 per barrel from its Nomination Field, representing a 9% decrease compared to the same period last year.

Bottomline

Indian markets are facing a mix of hope and some risks right now. The next week might be uncertain. While strong corporate earnings and continued support from retail investors are providing a positive foundation, a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases and ongoing global trade concerns may introduce volatility in the coming week. Investors need to be ready for potential ups and downs and stay careful and conduct thorough research through various online tools, to make investment decisions.