Sensex tumbles over 600 points as crude crosses USD 100; Nifty slips below 23,700

Dalal Street remained firmly bearish on Friday, with rising crude oil prices and weak global cues keeping buyers on the sidelines. At around noon, the BSE Sensex was down 621.36 points, or 0.81 per cent, at 75,770.03. The Nifty 50 declined 176.70 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 23,692.90 after briefly testing the 23,600 zone.

The weakness extended beyond the frontline indices. Nifty Bank fell about 0.88 per cent to 56,092.35, while the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 slipped 0.74 per cent and 1.08 per cent, respectively. Market breadth stayed weak, while India VIX jumped as much as 9.6 per cent to 14.77, signalling elevated nervousness.

There were no meaningful sectoral gainers. Nifty FMCG, Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma showed relative resilience in the morning but remained lower by 0.19 per cent, 0.36 per cent and 0.53 per cent, respectively. Nifty Auto fell 1.23 per cent, followed by Nifty Realty at 1.21 per cent and Nifty Metal at 1.03 per cent. Higher crude prices raised concerns over input costs, inflation and pressure on corporate margins.

Stock-specific action remained lively. Suryoday Small Finance Bank jumped nearly 8.8 per cent after its June-quarter profit more than doubled to Rs 75.2 crore and net interest income grew 27.8 per cent. Coforge gained around 1.4 per cent after securing a five-year AI transformation contract worth more than USD 230 million from a European client. Swiggy fell over 7 per cent after its board approved a 49.5 per cent cap on aggregate foreign ownership. Infosys declined nearly 3 per cent after disappointing Q1 growth and a cut in its FY27 guidance.

Institutional flows showed a familiar tug of war. In the latest provisional cash-market data for Thursday, FIIs were net sellers of Rs 2,999.23 crore, while DIIs purchased shares worth Rs 2,947.14 crore, largely absorbing the foreign selling.

Global cues offered little comfort. Overnight, the Nasdaq dropped 2.2 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 1.2 per cent and the Dow fell 1 per cent after Alphabet and Tesla revived concerns over heavy AI spending. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei fell about 2.8 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined around 1.5 per cent. Brent crude briefly crossed USD 102 per barrel, while the Dollar Index stayed near 101.4.

For the rest of the session, the Nifty’s 23,600 to 23,500 zone remains the immediate support area, while 23,900 to 24,000 may act as resistance. Traders will track crude oil, West Asia developments, the rupee, ongoing Q1 results and the US Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for July 28 and 29. For retail investors, volatility remains elevated and headline risk is unusually high.

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