Indices open marginally lower; NIFTY50 below 25,500 level, Sensex down 26 points; BEL top loser

The Indian stock market opened lower on Monday, July 7, tracking its Asian peers as investors’ eye the trade deal announcement between India and the US.

India and Washington’s interim trade pact could be announced before July 9, which marks the end of the 90-day suspension period of the Trump tariffs announced on April 2 on dozens of countries, including India.

The Trump administration is stepping up pressure on trading partners to make new deals before a Wednesday deadline, with plans for the United States to start sending letters Monday warning countries that higher tariffs could kick in August 1.

The broader market was trading lower, with both Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 declining 0.05% and 0.10%, respectively.

However, the market breadth remained in favour of positives in the opening session.

According to exchange data, on Friday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have sold equities worth ₹760.11 crore and ₹1,028.84 crore on a net basis, respectively.

The foreign investors have invested ₹14,590 crore in India’s equity market in June, marking the third straight month of investment. However, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned net sellers in July and pulled out ₹1,421 crore in the first week of the month, data with the depositories showed.

Globally, most of the indices on the Asian markets were trading with cuts as investors remained cautious ahead of the July 9 tariff deadline.

Japan's Nikkei was trading down 0.47% at 39,623.15 levels, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was seen at the 23,819.15 level, falling 0.46%. The Shanghai Composite also traded lower by 0.22% at 3,464.65 levels. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi index was trading marginally up at 3,056.73 levels.

The US market remained closed on Friday, July 4, on account of Independence Day.

As many as 2,494 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,438 were trading in the green, 960 were trading in the red, and 96 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market breadth was in favour of positive.

Meanwhile, 37 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while only 18 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 60 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 29 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading 2.63% lower at 12.64 levels.

Among sectors, Nifty Media (-1.08%) fell the most, followed by Nifty IT (-0.28%) and Nifty Metal and Pharma, each declining 0.21%. On the other hand, Nifty FMCG (1.01%), Nifty Realty (0.42%), and Nifty Oil and Gas (0.34%) were the top gainers.

Bharat Electronics was the biggest laggard on Monday morning, declining 1.79%, followed by Tech Mahindra (-1.17%), HCL Technologies (-0.78%), Eternal (-0.71%), and Hindalco Industries (-0.61%).

On the flip side, Trent (0.96%), HDFC Life Insurance (0.74%), Asian Paints (0.67%), Hindustan Unilever (0.62%), and Tata Consumer Products (0.56%) were the top gainers on the 50-share index.