Sensex, Nifty Trade Flat as Financial and Auto Gains Offset IT Weakness

Indian equity benchmarks traded in a narrow range on Friday morning as gains in financial and automobile stocks were offset by profit booking in information technology counters. At around 10 a.m., the Sensex was up nearly 76 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 78,003.81. The Nifty 50 gained about 41 points, or 0.17 per cent, to trade at 24,358.30.

The broader market remained supportive. The Nifty Bank traded at around 57,225.90, gaining 42.75 points or 0.07 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 advanced 0.46 per cent to 62,817, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 climbed 0.75 per cent to 19,310.80. The positive broader market performance indicated that buying interest was not restricted to frontline stocks.

Sectorally, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Auto were among the top performers, gaining around 1 per cent each. Financial stocks received support from Bajaj Finance after the company reported better than expected quarterly earnings. Automobile shares were led higher by Mahindra & Mahindra following its June quarter results.

Nifty IT was the only major sector facing clear selling pressure, declining around 2.3 per cent after five consecutive sessions of gains. Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and TCS fell by as much as 4 per cent in early trade. Despite Friday’s decline, the Nifty IT index remained up around 16 per cent in July, heading towards its strongest monthly performance in six years.

Among individual stocks, Bajaj Finance jumped nearly 7 per cent after its quarterly profit exceeded market expectations. Mahindra & Mahindra advanced around 2.5 per cent, extending its post results rally. Hyundai Motor India surged approximately 7 per cent after brokerages projected an improvement in earnings from the September quarter. On the other hand, Thermax plunged nearly 14 per cent after its June quarter profit dropped 83.4 per cent because of project cost overruns and weaker export sales.

Institutional flows remained supportive. According to the latest provisional data for Thursday, July 30, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian equities worth Rs 3,623.51 crore. Domestic institutional investors, however, were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,864.03 crore.

Global cues were broadly positive. South Korea’s KOSPI surged 14 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei gained more than 3 per cent and the broader Asia Pacific index rose 5 per cent. Brent crude declined 1 per cent to USD 88.16 per barrel, while US crude slipped 1.5 per cent to USD 82.31 per barrel, offering some relief to oil importing economies such as India.

Going ahead, traders will closely track whether the Nifty can sustain above the 24,350 to 24,400 resistance zone. A decisive move above this range could open the path towards 24,500 to 24,600, while the 24,100 to 24,000 zone may provide immediate support. Earnings announcements, crude oil movements and global technology stock volatility are likely to influence the market during the remaining session.

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