Stock market recap: Once again, the sense of confidence that we have been searching for the last few weeks disappeared swiftly. We had identified important zones and this strong breakdown seen yesterday could now result in some challenging times for the trends ahead.

Three stocks to trade as recommended by Raja Venkatraman of NeoTrader:

Best stocks to buy today (All buy trades are rates of equity, and sell rates are based on F&O)

Oil India Ltd: Buy above ₹435 | Stop ₹415 | Target ₹475 (multiday)

Exide Industries Ltd: Buy above ₹455 | Stop ₹430 | Target ₹505 (multiday)

Stock market today

On 8 July 2026, Indian equities faced a sharp sell-off, with both the Sensex and the Nifty 50 tumbling over 2%, marking their second straight day of losses after a four-session rally. Renewed geopolitical tensions weighed heavily on sentiment after US President Donald Trump declared the Iran peace memorandum “over”, sparking fresh uncertainty. Brent crude surged 5.66% to $78.35 per barrel, raising concerns for India’s import bill and inflation outlook. Weak global cues added to the pressure, as Asian markets slipped and US indices closed lower overnight.

Volatility spiked sharply, with India VIX jumping nearly 30% to 15.08, signaling heightened risk perception among investors. The combination of geopolitical stress, rising oil prices, and fragile global sentiment triggered broad-based selling, dragging benchmarks into uncertain territory and eroding recent gains. The market’s sharp correction underscored investor caution ahead of earnings season and the need for fresh domestic triggers to stabilize momentum.

Outlook for trading

Markets have been quite choppy as the overall trends have been difficult to decipher. Lack of clarity forces us to resort to a limited range action. Hence, it’s best to move to a buy on dip and sell on rally approach. Sector rotation has been evident, and it is increasingly a theme one needs to operate on to capitalise on the momentum. With the US-Iran deal in sight, markets saw a fair bit of upward momentum as the dip in crude oil brought some enthusiasm to the equity markets.

However, auto, realty, and pharma stocks saw strong upside, while energy counters were disappointing as oil, which had been on the boil, began to recede. The negative fallout from these would be the refineries, while the OMCs bore the brunt of this much-awaited decision. The impact of the rise in crude oil prices will continue to affect companies that use it as an ingredient, such as paint companies. Stocks like Asian Paint have been trading lower throughout the week. The impact of war has affected the FMCG sector through price increases that were passed on to consumers; a recession of the same could soften this stance and thus lead to a possible recovery.

On the global front, we brace ourselves for how the trends will emerge as the world will react to the resolution or a possible resolution to the continuing war scenario that is making it a challenging affair.

Back home, the sharp surge saw the Nifty trend react from strong resistance around 24,500, as seen on the charts below, along with the other indices, producing a pullback. Steady profit booking soon emerged to drag down the markets swiftly lower. The main culprit was the broader indices failed to move higher and capsized quickly as negative newslfows of war seeped in.

Markets have now clearly indicated a hesitation to build on the gains made since April. The resistance levels that we had highlighted in the midweek update came into play to introduce some pullback. However, the sustained bearish bias came to the fore as the short build up in the 25,000 call strike highlighted the negative build-up.

Two stocks to trade, recommended by NeoTrader’s Raja Venkatraman:

OIL (Cmp 430.35)

Why it’s recommended: Oil India Ltd (OIL) is India's second-largest national upstream oil and gas company and a prestigious Maharatna Public Sector Enterprise under the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. With the rise in oil prices, the upstream companies are back in action once again. Slow and steady revival seen in the Real Estate sector is helping this sector too as the beaten down stocks are showing some rally. The formation of a doji with the possibility of a breakout augurs well for the prices in the counter over the next few days. Long body candles with volume are now indicating that prices are gaining some momentum, with some strong buying at lower levels. Go Long.

Key metrics:

P/E: 15.72,

52-week high: ₹531,

Volume: 6.24M

Technical analysis: Support at ₹1,600 | Resistance at ₹1,950.

Risk factors: Commodity price volatility, heavy dependence on maturing fields in Northeast India, geopolitical and regulatory risks, and the massive capital expenditures required to sustain operations.

Buy: Above ₹435.

Stop loss: ₹415.

Target price: ₹475 (two months)

EXIDEIND (Cmp 421.35)

Why it’s recommended: Exide Industries Ltd is India's largest manufacturer of lead-acid storage batteries and power storage solutions. They operate globally across automotive, industrial, and solar sectors. The stock has been maintaining a steady upside in the last few days buoyed by strong volumes. The higher highs and higher lows highlight a strong push to the upside, suggesting an upward bias. With the Relative Strength Index showing promise, we can now look for trends to carry prices higher.

Key metrics:

P/E Ratio: 32.23,

52-week high: ₹431,

Volume: 6.89M.

Technical analysis: Support at ₹400 | Resistance at ₹550.

Risk factors: Volatile input costs, intense competition from both large FMCG players (like HUL) and D2C brands, and regulatory scrutiny on herbal claims.

Buy: Above ₹425

Stop loss: ₹408

Target price: ₹475 (two months)

Raja Venkatraman is co-founder, NeoTrader. His Sebi-registered research analyst registration no. is INH000016223.

Investments in securities are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. Registration granted by Sebi and certification from NISM in no way guarantees performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.

Stock market recap: Once again, the sense of confidence that we have been searching for the last few weeks disappeared swiftly. We had identified important zones and this strong breakdown seen yesterday could now result in some challenging times for the trends ahead.

Three stocks to trade as recommended by Raja Venkatraman of NeoTrader:

Best stocks to buy today (All buy trades are rates of equity, and sell rates are based on F&O)

Oil India Ltd: Buy above ₹435 | Stop ₹415 | Target ₹475 (multiday)

Exide Industries Ltd: Buy above ₹455 | Stop ₹430 | Target ₹505 (multiday)

Stock market today

On 8 July 2026, Indian equities faced a sharp sell-off, with both the Sensex and the Nifty 50 tumbling over 2%, marking their second straight day of losses after a four-session rally. Renewed geopolitical tensions weighed heavily on sentiment after US President Donald Trump declared the Iran peace memorandum “over”, sparking fresh uncertainty. Brent crude surged 5.66% to $78.35 per barrel, raising concerns for India’s import bill and inflation outlook. Weak global cues added to the pressure, as Asian markets slipped and US indices closed lower overnight.

Volatility spiked sharply, with India VIX jumping nearly 30% to 15.08, signaling heightened risk perception among investors. The combination of geopolitical stress, rising oil prices, and fragile global sentiment triggered broad-based selling, dragging benchmarks into uncertain territory and eroding recent gains. The market’s sharp correction underscored investor caution ahead of earnings season and the need for fresh domestic triggers to stabilize momentum.

Outlook for trading

Markets have been quite choppy as the overall trends have been difficult to decipher. Lack of clarity forces us to resort to a limited range action. Hence, it’s best to move to a buy on dip and sell on rally approach. Sector rotation has been evident, and it is increasingly a theme one needs to operate on to capitalise on the momentum. With the US-Iran deal in sight, markets saw a fair bit of upward momentum as the dip in crude oil brought some enthusiasm to the equity markets.

However, auto, realty, and pharma stocks saw strong upside, while energy counters were disappointing as oil, which had been on the boil, began to recede. The negative fallout from these would be the refineries, while the OMCs bore the brunt of this much-awaited decision. The impact of the rise in crude oil prices will continue to affect companies that use it as an ingredient, such as paint companies. Stocks like Asian Paint have been trading lower throughout the week. The impact of war has affected the FMCG sector through price increases that were passed on to consumers; a recession of the same could soften this stance and thus lead to a possible recovery.

On the global front, we brace ourselves for how the trends will emerge as the world will react to the resolution or a possible resolution to the continuing war scenario that is making it a challenging affair.

Back home, the sharp surge saw the Nifty trend react from strong resistance around 24,500, as seen on the charts below, along with the other indices, producing a pullback. Steady profit booking soon emerged to drag down the markets swiftly lower. The main culprit was the broader indices failed to move higher and capsized quickly as negative newslfows of war seeped in.

Markets have now clearly indicated a hesitation to build on the gains made since April. The resistance levels that we had highlighted in the midweek update came into play to introduce some pullback. However, the sustained bearish bias came to the fore as the short build up in the 25,000 call strike highlighted the negative build-up.

Two stocks to trade, recommended by NeoTrader’s Raja Venkatraman:

OIL (Cmp 430.35)

Why it’s recommended: Oil India Ltd (OIL) is India's second-largest national upstream oil and gas company and a prestigious Maharatna Public Sector Enterprise under the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. With the rise in oil prices, the upstream companies are back in action once again. Slow and steady revival seen in the Real Estate sector is helping this sector too as the beaten down stocks are showing some rally. The formation of a doji with the possibility of a breakout augurs well for the prices in the counter over the next few days. Long body candles with volume are now indicating that prices are gaining some momentum, with some strong buying at lower levels. Go Long.

Key metrics:

P/E: 15.72,

52-week high: ₹531,

Volume: 6.24M

Technical analysis: Support at ₹1,600 | Resistance at ₹1,950.

Risk factors: Commodity price volatility, heavy dependence on maturing fields in Northeast India, geopolitical and regulatory risks, and the massive capital expenditures required to sustain operations.

Buy: Above ₹435.

Stop loss: ₹415.

Target price: ₹475 (two months)

EXIDEIND (Cmp 421.35)

Why it’s recommended: Exide Industries Ltd is India's largest manufacturer of lead-acid storage batteries and power storage solutions. They operate globally across automotive, industrial, and solar sectors. The stock has been maintaining a steady upside in the last few days buoyed by strong volumes. The higher highs and higher lows highlight a strong push to the upside, suggesting an upward bias. With the Relative Strength Index showing promise, we can now look for trends to carry prices higher.

Key metrics:

P/E Ratio: 32.23,

52-week high: ₹431,

Volume: 6.89M.

Technical analysis: Support at ₹400 | Resistance at ₹550.

Risk factors: Volatile input costs, intense competition from both large FMCG players (like HUL) and D2C brands, and regulatory scrutiny on herbal claims.

Buy: Above ₹425

Stop loss: ₹408

Target price: ₹475 (two months)

Raja Venkatraman is co-founder, NeoTrader. His Sebi-registered research analyst registration no. is INH000016223.

Investments in securities are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. Registration granted by Sebi and certification from NISM in no way guarantees performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.