Market Wrap Podcast, July 20: Here's all that happened in the markets today

A sharp recovery in US futures helped benchmark indices recoup some losses. But even then both Sensex and Nifty declined for the third straight day. Traders also avoided taking positions ahead of the market holiday on Wednesday for Bakri-Id.

BSE Sensex sunk 355 points or 0.68% to 52,199. Its NSE counterpart Nifty settled at 15,632, down 120 points or 0.76%. IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel and NTPC were the worst losers. Meanwhile, Asian Paints following an over 160% YoY jump in Q1 PAT at Rs 574 crore was the top gainer. The scrip closed over 6% higher. Ultratech, HUL and Nestle were other gainers from the Sensex pack.

Sectorally, only the Nifty FMCG index closed in the green. Nifty Media, Metals and Realty indices declined over 2% each and were the top laggards. The fall in the broader market was more pronounced, with both Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap shedding over 1.4%.

Stock specific action remained high. Cement stocks hogged the limelight following a strong Q1 show by ACC. ACC stock hit a new high of Rs 2343 as it posted strong operational performance for the second quarter. It closed the day 7% up at Rs 2308.55. Other cement stocks like JK Lakshmi, Birla Corporation and Ambuja Cements jumped between 5-6%.

Tata Motors declined over 2% after the latest shareholding pattern showed that Rakesh Jhunjhunwala reduced his stake in the company to 1.14 per cent in the June quarter from 1.29 per cent in the March quarter.

Bajaj Finance, in closing hours of trade, posted a 3 per cent YoY decline in net profit to Rs 843 crore for the quarter ended June. Following this, the scrip settled 1% down at Rs 5937.90 on BSE.

Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem's IPO was subscribed 180 times so far on Day 3. With another hour left for investors to put in their bids, it remains to be seen if the IPO can beat MTAR Tech's 200 times bids.

With markets shut on Wednesday, investors will react to global cues on Thursday with the weekly expiry expected to keep the indices volatile. Besides, earnings from top two index majors HUL and Bajaj Auto are also slated for Thursday, which can result in stock-specific lead action on the index.

In global trade today, European and US stock futures gained as markets stabilised after Monday's rout. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5% while US futures that were up half a per cent, indicated a firm Wall Street start later in the day.