Sensex drops 739 pts, Nifty ends below 24,550; metal stocks slump

Profit-taking gripped Dalal Street today as investors hit the brakes ahead of next week's union budget. The Nifty shed its four-day winning streak, closing below 24,550 despite a strong start. All sectors finished lower, with metals and oil & gas taking the biggest hits. Broader market indices extended selloff.

In the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was dropped 738.81 points or 0.91% to 80,604.65. The Nifty 50 index declined 269.95 points or 1.09% to 24,530.90.

The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 81,587.76 and 24,854.80, respectively, in early trade.

Tata Motors (down 3.43%), Bajaj Finance (down 2.44%) and Reliance Industries (down 1.92%) were major drags.

 

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slumped 2.31% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index tumbled 2.22%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 906 shares rose and 3,014 shares fell. A total of 90 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, advanced 2.17% to 14.83.

Politics:

The Indian government has announced plans to introduce six new bills during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, including an amendment to the Disaster Management Law and the Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak 2024 to replace the existing Aircraft Act of 1934 and ease doing business in the civil aviation sector. Other key bills on the agenda are the Finance Bill, the Boilers Bill, the Coffee (Promotion and Development) Bill, and the Rubber (Promotion and Development) Bill. The Monsoon Session will run from July 22 to August 12.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was down 0.01% to 6.965 as compared with previous close 6.966.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.6625, compared with its close of 83.6375 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2024 settlement fell 1.08% to Rs 73,356.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.15% to 104.33.

The United States 10-year bond yield grew 0.53% to 4.209.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for September 2024 settlement lost 18 cents or 0.21% to $84.96 a barrel.

Global Markets:

European shares declined on Friday as investors digest European Central Bank (ECB) rate decision. The ECB announced on Thursday it would hold interest rates steady for now, after cutting them in June and expects headline inflation to remain above their target rate until next year.

Asian stocks declined on Friday, due to a combination of factors including political tensions (US-China trade war, US election), China's weak economic data, and a lack of clear plans from Chinese government to boost their economy.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, snapping a winning streak for the Dow after large technology companies continued to lose ground. This comes amid concerns about overvaluation after a strong 2024 driven by AI optimism. The VIX, a gauge of investor fear, jumped 10%, potentially reflecting anxieties surrounding the upcoming presidential election. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.3%, ending its three-day record run. The broader S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq also saw losses.

Stocks in Spotlight:

The Nifty Metal index slumped 3.95% to 9,256.30. The index fell 4.86% in three consecutive trading sessions.

Jindal Stainless (down 6.2%), NMDC (down 5.58%), Tata Steel (down 4.97%), JSW Steel (down 4.68%) and Jindal Steel & Power (down 4.49%) slumped.

Wipro fell 2.78%. The IT major's net income for Q1FY25 was at Rs 3000 crore ($360.4 million), an increase of 5.9% QoQ and 4.6% YoY. Gross revenue was at Rs 21960 crore ($2,635.8 million), a decrease of 1.1% QoQ and 3.8% YoY.

IT services segment revenue was at $2,625.9 million, a decrease of 1.2% QoQ and decrease of 5.5% YoY. The company expects Q2 revenue from its IT Services business segment to be in the range of $2,600 million to $2,652 million. This translates to sequential guidance of (-)1.0% to +1.0% in constant currency terms.

One 97 Communications (Paytm) advanced 3.07%. The company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 840.1 crore in Q1 FY25 as against a net loss of Rs 358.4 crore recorded in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations for the period under review fell by 36% year-over-year (YoY) to Rs 1,502 crore.

Persistent Systems tumbled 6.50% after the IT companys consolidated net profit fell 2.82% to Rs 306.42 crore in Q1 FY25 as against with Rs 315.32 crore posted in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 2,737.17 crore in the first quarter of FY25, up 5.66% QoQ and 17.92% YoY.

L&T Technology Services (LTTS) rose 0.40%. The companys consolidated net profit fell 8.01% to Rs 313.6 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 313.6 crore in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations fell 2.98% quarter on quarter (QoQ) to Rs 2,461.9 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2024.

UltraTech Cement slipped 3.28%. The cement majors consolidated net profit rose marginally to Rs 1,696.59 crore in Q1 FY25 as against Rs 1,688.45 crore in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations rose 1.87% year on year (YoY) to Rs 18,069.56 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2024.

Jubilant Pharmova jumped 3.48% after the company's consolidated net profit stood at Rs 482.10 crore in Q1 FY25, steeply higher than Rs 6.40 crore in Q1 FY24.Total income increased by 9.41% to Rs 1,745.7 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 1,595.5 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year.

Rallis India slipped 4.73% after the firm reported 23.81% decline in net profit to Rs 48 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared to Rs 63 crore in Q1 FY24. The revenue rose marginally on YoY basis to Rs 783 crore in the first quarter of FY25.

Shoppers Stop dropped 5.28% after the company reported standalone net loss of Rs 22.51 crore in Q1 FY25 as against net profit of Rs 14.94 crore recorded in Q1 FY24. However, revenue from operations grew by 5.31% year on year to Rs 1,033.70 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2024.

South Indian Bank rallied 2.72% after the banks standalone net profit increased 45.35% to Rs 294.13 crore in Q1 FY25 as against Rs 202.35 crore recorded in Q1 FY24. Total income jumped 14.65% year on year to Rs 2,736.13 crore during the quarter.

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Sanstar received 15,62,64,000 bids for shares as against 3,75,90,000 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 17:00 IST on Friday (19 July 2024). The issue was subscribed 4.16 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Friday (19 July 2024) and it will close on Tuesday (23 July 2024). The price band of the IPO is fixed between Rs 90 to Rs 95 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 150 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

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