The Indian stock market paused briefly on Friday, May 16, after hitting a seven-month high, as subdued global signals and a sharp downturn in domestic tech stocks dampened investor sentiment.

The Nifty 50 slipped by 42 points, or 0.17%, to finish slightly above the 25,000 level at 25,019, while the Sensex declined by 200 points, or 0.24%, ending the day at 82,330. Despite the day’s pullback, both indices recorded strong weekly gains of over 4%.

Next week, investors will monitor some key market triggers in the coming week. With no significant global or domestic events on the calendar, markets are likely to turn their attention to domestic corporate earnings and high-frequency economic indicators for guidance. Developments in global trade agreements and their potential effects on international markets will also be monitored closely.

Indian stock market trends

Indian stock markets closed the week with strong gains, supported by widespread buying across various sectors and continued enthusiasm for midcap stocks. The benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50, each climbed approximately 4% over the week, recording one of their best weekly performances in recent times.

The benchmark indices began the week with solid gains, experienced a brief mid-week slowdown, but picked up pace again in the latter part. Consequently, the Nifty and Sensex ended at 25,019.80 and 82,330.59, respectively.

“The week began with fireworks as the NIFTY index jumped over 900 points on Monday, driven by reports of a potential ceasefire and easing geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan. Although the index saw some consolidation during the mid-week, Thursday delivered one of the most thrilling expiries in recent times. NIFTY decisively reclaimed the 25,000 mark — a level last seen in October 2024. For the week, the index gained over 4%, closing above 25,000 and signaling renewed bullish momentum.

Over the past few weeks, NIFTY has rallied nearly 3,300 points from the April 2025 low of 21,800 — a sharp uptrend with hardly any meaningful pullback. While FIIs have turned net buyers in the cash segment and geopolitical tensions with the neighbouring country have eased, there are a few technical observations that warrant attention,” said Mehul Kothari, Deputy Vice President — Technical Research at Anand Rathi.

Here are the key triggers for stock markets in the coming week:

Q4 earnings

India Inc’s Q4 FY25 earnings season is in full swing this week, with 77 companies set to announce their financial results. Notable firms to keep an eye on include Larsen & Toubro, Titan Company, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Bank of Baroda, BSE, Paytm, Swiggy, Tata Chemicals, MRF, Indian Hotels Company, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Reliance Power, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, and Coforge.

IPO Activity: 5 new issues, 3 listings

The primary market is all set to be back in action as two new mainboard IPOs – Borana Weaves Limited and Belrise Industries Limited – are scheduled to open for subscription next week. Meanwhile, the market will also witness opening of three new small and medium enterprise (SME) IPOs in the upcoming week.

Apart from new issues, three new IPOs will make their stock market debut next week.

FII Activity

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have maintained their strong buying momentum in Indian equities, investing a total of ₹23,778 crore up to May 16, 2025. This follows a significant strategy shift in April, when FIIs moved away from their previous selling trend and registered net inflows of ₹4,243 crore.

“FIIs who were sellers in the first three months of 2025 having sold equity for ₹116574 crores during this period turned buyers in April with buy figure of ₹4243 crores. This change in FII strategy from selling to buying accelerated in May with big buying of 23778 crores through 16th May. With the global trade scenario improving after the pause in trade war between US and China and the end of the India-Pak conflict, the investment scenario has improved. The growth prospects in US, China, Japan and the EU continues to be challenging while India is expected to clock a growth rate of above 6% in FY 26. Importantly, with inflation in India very much under control and the MPC expected to cut rates twice or thrice more in this rate cutting cycle, the macro construct in India looks good. Going forward, FIIs are likely to continue their buying in India. Therefore, large caps will be resilient,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

India-US trade deal

Investors are also keenly waiting for further developments in India-US trade deal which is likely to impact the stock market sentiment next week.

Crude oil prices

Oil prices have edged up to $62.3 per barrel, supported by a weaker dollar. However, significant increases may be limited due to the potential US-Iran agreement and continued uncertainty over global trade and economic growth.

Technical View

According to Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, having broken out of a three-week consolidation, the Nifty is expected to sustain its upward momentum.

“The index is now targeting levels of 25,200–25,600. On the downside, the earlier resistance at 24,800 is likely to act as immediate support, with a stronger support base at 24,400,” Mishra said.

Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, not Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.