Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended with losses on July 27, the last day of the Nifty's July series futures and options (F&O) contracts amid broadly positive global cues. The US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate on Wednesday to the highest level since 2001 to tackle above-target inflation, and signaled the possibility of further hikes ahead.
The quarter percentage-point rise by the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) lifts the overnight interest rate to a range between 5.25 per cent and 5.5 per cent. ‘’The US markets didn’t react to the expected rate action and message from the Fed. The message from the Fed chief’s press conference is that further rate actions will be data dependent. So the markets will be keenly watching the jobs report and CPI numbers due before the September Fed meeting. As of now there are no known negative triggers that can impact global equity markets,'' said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
The domestic market saw some volatility today. Sensex opened 127 points higher at 66,834.12 against the previous close of 66,707.20 and rose 277 points to hit its intraday high of 66,984.17. However, the index failed to sustain gains and fell 646 points to hit the intraday low of 66,060.74.
The index finally closed 440 points, or 0.66 per cent, lower at 66,266.82 while the Nifty ended at 19,659.90, down 118 points, or 0.60 per cent.
Nestle India, ACC, Bajaj Finserv, Dr Lal Pathlabs, Cipla, Indian Bnak, Laurus Labs, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Trident Group, among others declared their April-June quarter results for fiscal 2023-24 on Thursday. ‘’Q1 FY 24 results are panning out mostly on expected lines with excellent performance from banks and weak guidance from the IT sector. Early results from FMCG companies indicate pressure on volume growth while auto results are broadly good,'' added Dr. V K Vijayakumar.
While the equity benchmarks faltered, the mid and smallcap indices bucked the trend. The BSE Midcap index ended 0.48 per cent higher at 29,995.94 after hitting its fresh all-time high of 30,090.66. The BSE Smallcap index ended with mild gains of 0.07 per cent at 34,379.25 after hitting its record high of 34,573.9.
Commenting on today's market performance, Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd. said, ‘’Markets reversed yesterday's gain on the monthly expiry and shed over half a percent. After the initial uptick, Nifty surrendered all its gain as the day progressed and final settled at 19659.90 levels,''
‘’A mixed trend on the sectoral front kept the traders busy wherein auto, banking and oil & gas ended lower while pharma and realty posted strong gains. The positive tone of broader indices offered further opportunities. We are in a consolidation phase so it is normal to see volatile swings. The key is to manage risk until the trend resumes,'' added Mishra.
Top gainers: Sun Pharmaceuticals (2.10%), Tata Motors (0.83%), Bharti Airtel (0.69%), Larsen & Toubro (0.62%), and Infosys (0.30%)
To losers: Mahindra & Mahindra (-6.39%), Tech Mahindra (-3.82%) Nestle India (-2.08%), Bajaj Finance (-1.98%) and Axis Bank (-1.75%).
Top gainers: Cipla (9.78%), Sun Pharmaceuticals (2.30%), Divi's Laboratories (2.03%), Hero MotoCorp (1.43%), and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (1.34%)
Top losers: Mahindra & Mahindra (-6.23%), Tech Mahindra (-3.62%), Tata Consumer Products (-2.71%), Britannia (-2.12%), and Nestle India (-2.03%)
Top gainers: Vesuvius India (20%), Godfrey Phillips India (10.68%), Cipla (9.62%), REC Ltd (8.53%), and Texmaco Rail Engineering (7.69%)
Top losers: Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Ltd (-8.13%), Arvind (-7.26%), Mahindra & Mahindra (-6.39%), RVNL (-6.10%), and Fine Organic Industries (-5.49%).
Top gainers: Vesuvius India (20%), Moksh Ornaments (16.94%), Excel Realty N Infra (14.29%), Nectar Lifesciences (14.16%), and Visesh Infotecnics Ltd (12.50%)
Top losers: Shah Metacorp Ltd (-10.29%), Mirae Asset Mutual Fund - Mirae Asset Nifty Bank ETF (-8.25%), Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Ltd (-7.69%), Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (-7.64%), and RVNL (-6.85%).
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