Indices open lower; SENSEX down 160 points, NIFTY50 tests 25,000; banking stocks drag, Axis Bank top loser

The Indian stock market opened with losses on Friday, July 18, as earnings keep investors worried amid foreign fund outflows. The market participants also remained cautious following US and India trade talks.

On Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the negotiations between India and the US are underway to iron out pending issues for a trade deal. India and the US have been holding negotiations for the trade pact primarily to keep the tariffs below 20%.

The banking stocks were the biggest laggards, with Nifty Private Bank (-1.02%) declining the most. Axis Bank was the biggest losing stock, as the lender reported a 3% drop in Q1 FY26 consolidated net profit at ₹6,243.72 crore, impacted by the implementation of changes in non-performing assets and loan upgrade policy.

The broader market, however, remained buoyant. Both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 were trading higher by 0.13% and 0.10%, respectively, in the early session.

According to exchange data, on Thursday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹3,694.31 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,820.77 crore on a net basis.

On the global front, the stocks in Asia were trading mixed on Friday as US stocks rallied following strong economic data, and that eased economic concerns.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.34%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was seen up 0.64%. South Korea's KOSPI dipped 0.47%, while the Shanghai Composite was also trading 0.34% higher.

On Wall Street, both the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 settled at record highs on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite rose 153.78 points, or 0.74%, to close at the 20,884.27 level, and the S&P 500 gained 33.66 points, or 0.54%, to end at 6,297.36.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average settled at 44,484.49, surging 229.71 points, or 0.52%.

Axis Bank was the biggest loser, declining 3.92%, followed by Tech Mahindra (-0.72%), SBI Life Insurance (-0.68%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (-0.56%), and Bharti Airtel (-0.53%).

On the other hand, Wipro was the biggest gainer on the 50-share index, rising 2.59%. Power Grid (1.28%), Tata Steel (1.12%), Mahindra & Mahindra (1.02%), and HCL Technologies (0.66%) were the other top gainers.

As many as 2,521 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,191 were trading in the green, 1,258 were trading in the red, and 72 shares remained unchanged.

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

Meanwhile, 49 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 11 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 42 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 12 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading marginally up by 0.02% at 11.25 levels.