Indices open lower amid cautious Asian peers; SENSEX down 418 points, NIFTY50 below 25,000; Bajaj Finance, Finserv top losers

Following its Asian peers, the Indian stock market opened lower on Friday, July 25, amid foreign fund outflows and June quarter earnings.

The broader market also remained under pressure in the early session. Both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 were trading lower by 0.40% and 0.62%, respectively.

Shares of Bajaj Finance were the main laggard on the 50-share index despite the NBFC reporting a 20% increase in net profit for the June quarter at ₹4,700 crore as compared to ₹3,912 crore in the same period last year.

Among sectors, Nifty Auto (-0.46%), Nifty Metal (-0.43%), and Nifty FMCG (-0.39%) fell the most.

According to exchange data, on Thursday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹2,133.69 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,617.14 crore on a net basis.

Globally, the indices in the Asian market were seen mixed on Friday as investors locked in profits ahead of US President Donald Trump's tariff deadline and a host of central bank meetings.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.78%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 1.22%. South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.34%, while the Shanghai Composite was also trading 0.34% lower.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices of Wall Street settled at record highs on Thursday as robust earnings from Google parent Alphabet added to investors’ sentiment. The US-Japan trade deal and progress in talks with the European Union also fuelled the gains.

The S&P 500 inched up 0.07% to close at 6,363.35 points. The Nasdaq rose 0.18% to 21,057.96 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.70% to 44,693.91 points.

As many as 2,456 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which only 908 were trading in the green, 1,453 were trading in the red, and 95 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth was in favour of negatives.

Meanwhile, 22 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 16 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 26 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 21 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading 3.21% higher at 11.07 levels.

Bajaj Finance (-5.35%), Bajaj Finserv (-4.22%), Shriram Finance (-1.87%), Bajaj Auto (-1.41%), and Nestle India (-0.93%) were the biggest losing stocks on Friday morning.

On the other hand, SBI Life (2.34%), Dr. Reddy’s (1.41%), Apollo Hospitals (0.72%), ICICI Bank (0.51%), and State Bank of India (0.33%) were the biggest gainers in the early session.