In a promising sign of market recovery, seven out of the 13 most popularly tracked Nifty sectoral indices have managed to deliver positive returns year-to-date in FY25.
Leading the pack is the Nifty Financial Services index, which has seen a return of 8 per cent, closing at 23,136 points on Friday compared to 20,989 points at the beginning of the fiscal year.
The Nifty 50 index has faced challenges throughout the fiscal year due to various external factors such as geopolitical tensions and a slowing Indian economy. While the index has rebounded in the last few trading sessions, it had previously fallen nearly 14 per cent from its all-time high of 26,277 points reached last September. Overall, it has only delivered a one per cent return so far this fiscal year.
Despite recent volatility caused by factors like rupee depreciation and trade tensions, global brokerages remain optimistic about the Indian stock market. Citi Research, for example, predicts a recovery to 26,000 levels by the end of 2025, indicating a 15 per cent upside from current Nifty levels.
The Nifty IT, Nifty Healthcare, and Nifty Metals indices have all shown growth of 8 per cent each. The Nifty IT index has displayed resilience in the face of ongoing global trade tariff increases. Large-cap IT companies reported strong margins growth during the December quarter earnings season.
“We remain positive on the sector, anticipating favourable US macro and strong deal flow momentum to drive growth in the near term and the Gen AI-led opportunity over medium to long-term,” said Nuvama Institutional Equities.
Despite a recent correction following a 25 per cent tariff imposed by the US on all steel and aluminium imports, the Nifty Metal index has also shown relative resilience. Vedanta and Hindustan Zinc have emerged as the top two performers in the Nifty Metal index, delivering TSRs of 80 per cent and 57 per cent, respectively, driven by robust Q3 financial and operational performances.
Hindustan Zinc reported a nine-month net profit increase of 28 per cent to ₹7,350 crore, driven by record refined metal production and the lowest cost of production in the past 15 quarters at $1,041 a tonne in the December quarter.
Published on March 7, 2025.
