The Indian stock market ended in red today with BSE Sensex witnessed a sharp decline of 677 points, closing at 65,783, while Nifty 50, ended at 19,527 after a drop of 207 points.

Share Market Live

NSE

In the day, Nifty 50 breached 19,450 level, Sensex slumped 950 points dragged by financial stocks. At close Nifty 50 recovered over 100 points from lows but investors lose Rs 3.3 lakh crore. The bearish sentiment was triggered by negative global cues after Fitch, the renowned rating agency, downgraded the sovereign rating of the United States.

The Volatility Index, which measures market uncertainty, surged by 10 percent as the market experienced a downward slide, with major indices like Sensex and Nifty 50 both falling by 1 percent. This decline impacted 43 out of 50 Nifty stocks, with some stocks witnessing losses of up to 3 percent.

All indices ended in red with Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Metal shedding over 2 percent.

The top losing stocks on the Nifty 50 were Hero MotoCorp, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Baja Finserv and NTPC while the top gainers were Divis Laboratories, Nestle India, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints and Tech Mahindra.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank suffered a significant setback, declining by 597 points to 44,996. The midcap index also faced a substantial fall, losing 501 points to close at 37,233.

Metal stocks were hit hard as the Dollar Index strengthened, leading to a decline of over 1 percent in the Nifty Metal sector. Similarly, IT stocks were under pressure, tracking global cues, with LTIMIndtree emerging as the top loser.

However, amidst the overall market negativity, select sectors showed strength. Pharma and FMCG stocks witnessed buying interest, with companies like Divi's, Nestle, and HUL emerging as the top gainers among Nifty stocks.

On the other hand, Strides Pharma faced profit booking after releasing its earnings report, resulting in a significant 7 percent decline in its stock.

Titan, a leading jewelry and watch retailer, closed 1 percent lower, while IndiGo, one of India's prominent airlines, remained flat ahead of its earnings announcement.

Ambuja, a major cement manufacturer, managed to recover 3 percent from its intra-day lows to close with minor gains after posting in-line Q1 earnings.

SpiceJet, a domestic airline, saw an surge of 8 percent following news of seeking shareholder approval for fund-raising and share allotment to lessors.

Expert view

“Indian markets today saw the first round of correction breaking the important level of 19560 and closing below that. The global sell-off was driven by the Fitch downgrade of US credit rating. The results season thus far has been mixed with 18 nifty companies beating estimates and 15 missing. However, the mid and small cap space has seen earnings upgrades which has resulted in the continued rally in the space while the broader market takes a breather. China on the other hand has been grabbing eyeballs with the recent policy document by the NDRC which is now focusing more on retail growth and providing more boost to the economy while falling short of handing out stimulus. The US markets overall remain in a bit of uncertain mode as valuations and concentrated bunch of stocks have driven the market rally (largely driven by AI). For the coming week, we expect the Indian market to take a breather along with some global weakness," Jaykrishna Gandhi, Head - Business Development, Institutional Equities, Emkay Global Financial Services.

"Technically, the bears mark their presence with the benchmark index plunging below the 20 DEMA, followed by the pivotal support of 19500 one after the other. The sell-off shook the market sentiments with breadth on the lower end. On the technical front, Nifty was able to recoup from the lows and managed to safeguard its pivotal support; however, a dent has been put in the ongoing trend. As far as levels are concerned, 19500 proved its mettle, and until a decisive breakthrough is not seen, we may remain out of the concerned zone. On the downside, a series of supports could be seen starting from 19500-19400-19300, while sacrosanct support is placed at the bullish gap of 19230 odd zone. On the higher end, the bearish gap of 19678-19704 is likely to act as the immediate hurdle, followed by 19800 in the comparable period," Osho Krishan, Sr. Analyst, Technical & Derivative Research, Angel One.

Also read: Stock Market Live: Nifty 50 breaches 19,450, Sensex slumps 950 points, financials drag

First Published:Aug 2, 2023 3:34 PM IST