Sensex, Nifty Give Up Early Gains as Banks and Realty Weigh

Indian equities turned rangebound on Thursday afternoon after giving up a large part of their early gains. At around 2:07 PM, the Sensex was trading 179.65 points, or 0.23 per cent, higher at 77,365.08. The Nifty 50 gained 36.95 points, or 0.15 per cent, to trade at 24,115.45.

The Nifty had climbed to an Intraday high of 24,186.50 before profit booking in financial stocks pulled the index lower. Market breadth also weakened as the session progressed, indicating that the headline gains were not supported by broad participation.

The broader market remained under pressure. The Nifty Midcap 100 declined 140.25 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 62,802.95. The Nifty Smallcap 100 hovered around the flat line after trading marginally higher earlier in the session.

Banking stocks remained the main drag, with the Nifty Bank falling 201.40 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 57,556.45. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI Life were among the key negative contributors.

The Nifty IT index gained 350.60 points, or 1.23 per cent, supported by buying in HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Wipro. HCL Technologies gained more than 2 per cent during the session, while Tech Mahindra also traded firmly ahead of its Quarterly Results.

The Nifty Consumer Durables index rose around 1.5 per cent, led by Dixon Technologies. The stock gained after the government approved new Semiconductor and mobile phone manufacturing schemes with a combined outlay of nearly Rs 1.90 lakh crore.

On the losing side, the Nifty Financial Services index fell more than 1 per cent, while Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Realty declined around 0.5 per cent each. Weakness in insurers, asset managers and select banking counters weighed on these indices.

ABB India surged around 7 per cent to Rs 7,710 after its parent reported an 81 per cent year on year increase in order inflows from India.

MRPL jumped more than 11 per cent to Rs 175.30 after reporting a Q1 profit of Rs 945.7 crore against a loss of Rs 270.7 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Mrs Bectors Food Specialities rallied nearly 12 per cent after Sunil Singhania led Abakkus Investment Managers acquired 29.4 lakh shares through a bulk deal. ICICI Lombard declined around 12 per cent following its quarterly earnings announcement.

In the previous session on July 15, foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 735.83 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 704.93 crore. Institutional activity data for Thursday’s session will be available after the market closes.

Asian markets remained weak, with Japan’s Nikkei falling 2.8 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi witnessing a sharp selloff. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, however, gained around 1.7 per cent. Brent crude traded near USD 85 per barrel, while the US Dollar remained close to a one month low.

For the Nifty, 24,200 remains the immediate hurdle, while 24,000 to 23,950 is the key support zone. Market participants will closely track the Q1 results of Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Jio Financial Services, BHEL and Polycab, along with developments in the Middle East and movements in crude oil.

The commentary reflects prevailing market conditions and does not constitute a recommendation.

Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.