Stock Market Settles In Red: Sensex Falls 296 Points, Nifty Below 24,800

On the Nifty, top gainers included HUL, Jio Financial, Eternal, JSW Steel, and ITC. Major laggards were Adani Enterprises, Dr. Reddy's Labs, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, and Sun Pharma

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices dropped 0.7 per cent each, underperforming the benchmarks

Source : ABPLIVE AI

Indian equity benchmarks declined for the second consecutive session on July 31, with the Nifty closing below the 24,800 mark amid broad-based selling pressure. The BSE Sensex ended 296.28 points lower, or 0.36 per cent, at 81,185.58, while the NSE Nifty fell 86.70 points, or 0.35 per cent, to settle at 24,768.35. Market breadth favored the bears, with 2,365 stocks declining, 1,490 advancing, and 135 remaining unchanged on the BSE.

On the Nifty, top gainers included HUL, Jio Financial, Eternal, JSW Steel, and ITC. Major laggards were Adani Enterprises, Dr. Reddy's Labs, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, and Sun Pharma.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices dropped 0.7 per cent each, underperforming the benchmarks. Sectorally, FMCG was the lone bright spot, rising 1.4 per cent, while IT, metal, oil & gas, PSU banks, pharma, realty, and telecom sectors declined between 0.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent.

Trade Negotiation

Investor sentiment showed signs of recovery after U.S. President Donald Trump, while announcing a proposed 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, emphasized that trade negotiations with India would continue. Analysts view the move largely as a negotiation tactic, suggesting that the final tariff rates could be lower than initially proposed. While caution persists in the market, there is growing optimism ahead of the next round of trade talks scheduled for mid-August.

“Investors will reassess their strategies with a mix of caution and optimism after the tariffs and penalties imposed on Indian goods," said Utsav Verma, Head of Research at Choice Institutional Equities, in a statement to Reuters.

Previous Trading Session

Indian stock markets wrapped up Wednesday’s trading session with modest gains. The BSE Sensex rose by nearly 150 points to close at 81,482, while the NSE Nifty50 advanced around 34 points, ending slightly above the 24,850 mark. Despite the upward close, the overall momentum remained restrained. Among the 30 Sensex components, notable gainers included L&T, Sun Pharma, NTPC, Maruti, and Bharti Airtel. On the flip side, stocks such as Tata Motors, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and HUL ended the day in the red.