Sensex gyrates 376 pts, ends 66 pts down; Sun Pharma zooms 10%, Tech M 7%

Domestic equities witnessed sharp profit booking in the fag end of the session as European stocks slipped in early trade and US stock futures hinted at a muted start on Wall Street later today

MARKETS: Metal, bank stocks drag Sensex 100 pts down; Nasdaq Futures dip 1%

LIVE market updates: After ruling higher for better part of the day, domestic equities witnessed sharp profit booking in the fag end of the session as European stocks slipped in early trade and US stock futures hinted at a muted start on Wall Street later today.

Concerns about the fast-spreading Delta variant and regulatory actions in China dragged the pan-European STOXX 600 index down 0.5 per cent while Dow Jones Futures were quoting 100 points, or 0.3 per cent, lower. Nasdaq Future, meanwhile, tumbled 1.1 per cent and those linked to S&P500 declined 0.6 per cent. Earlier in Asia, Nikkei skidded 2 per cent, and Kospi and Hang Seng erased over 1 per cent each.

Against this backdrop, the frontline S&P BSE Sensex gyrated 376 points in intra-day trade and ended 66 points, or 0.13 per cent, lower at 52,587 levels dragged by Bajaj Finance (down 2.5 per cent), Bajaj Finance, SBI, Tata Steel, Titan, Asian Paints, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Nestle India.

It's NSE counterpart, Nifty50, shut shop at 15,763 levels, down 15 points or 0.1 per cent. The broader markets, however, outperformed with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices zooming 0.52 per cent an 0.69 per cent, respectively.

4:23 PM

MARKET STRATEGY :: What will drive the indices next week?

The RBI’s MPC meeting is scheduled for the coming week however the expectation is that the RBI too, just like the Fed, will not hamper the repo rates so as to continue supporting impacted sectors with cheaper credit. The Governor's comments on inflation will also throw some light ontoour economy and any future actions our central bank might take.

Auto sales numbers, PMI figures along with the result season will continue to drive stock specific movements on D-Street.

Investors can continue investing in the markets in a SIP format to accumulate quality stocks. Nifty50 closed the week at 15,763.05, down by 0.59%.

Views by: Nirali Shah, Head of equity research, Samco Securities

4:22 PM

MARKET RECAP :: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Taking support from pharma, fertilizer and auto stocks, the domestic market attempted to trade positively but failed to stick with the gains amid weak global trend. Eurozone inflation in July rose to 2.2% YoY above European Central Bank’s target impacting the European market and the Chinese market was fragile too. Pharma stocks were back on action beating early worries of weak Q1 results as recent quarterly of major companies were in favor of market expectation. Fertilizer stocks were in focus today as Chinese firms were asked to suspend exports in order to ensure domestic supply

4:18 PM

MARKET RECAP :: S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities

A highly volatile session of trade today with plenty of action across stocks and sectors. Profit Booking was seen in key Pivotals and across high-quality Midcaps to erase the gains for the day. The Pharma Index however bucked the trend with a stellar 3.5% up move today led by the big boy which posted good numbers for the quarter. A day of high volatility amidst a slew of earnings was indeed the highlight for today

4:17 PM