Market Wrap, August 8: Indices plunge to 3-month lows, SENSEX crashes 765 points, NIFTY50 settles at 24,350

The equity benchmark indices closed with losses on Friday, August 8, making it the sixth consecutive week of market fall. SENSEX and NIFTY50 slipped below the 80,000 and 23,400 marks, respectively, closing at their three-month low levels.

Investors were nervous with US President Donald Trump ruling out advanced trade negotiations with India and the continued outflow of foreign funds.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday ruled out rapidly advancing trade negotiations with India after Washington slapped steep tariffs on Indian goods, saying discussions would not move forward until the issue is resolved.

The 50-share index NIFTY50 closed at the 24,363.30 level, falling 232.85 points, or 0.95%. During the intraday period, the index had hit an intraday low of 24,337.50 and a high of 24,585.50.

The equity benchmark indices have slipped for the sixth straight week—their longest losing streak in five years, with Sensex and NIFTY50 each falling nearly 1%. The Nifty Midcap gauge has declined over 1% during the week.

NSE-listed firms' market capitalisation lost 4.7 lakh crore and stood at ₹437.67 lakh crore at the end of the session. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms also lost 5.74 lakh crore.

According to exchange data, on Thursday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹ 4,997.19 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹ 10,864.04 crore on a net basis.

As many as 3,038 stocks traded on the NSE on Friday. Out of this, 1,969 declined and only 984 stocks advanced, while 85 scrips remained unchanged.

This indicated that the market breadth was in favour of bears.

A total of 54 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 79 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 75 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 61 touched their lower circuit bands on Friday.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 12.03 levels, rising 2.95%.

IndusInd Bank was the biggest laggard, declining 3.32%. Bharti Airtel (-3.28%), Adani Enterprises (-3.15%), Shriram Finance (-2.93%) and Tata Motors (-2.43%) were the other top losers.

On the contrary, NTPC (1.59%), Titan (1.49%), Dr Reddy’s (1.18%), HDFC Life Insurance (0.54%) and Bajaj Finserv (0.26%) were the biggest-gaining stocks on the 50-share index.

The Nifty Smallcap 100 index underperformed the main indices and fell 1.49% to end at the 17,428.20 level. PG Electroplast (-23%), Titagarh Rail Systems (-6.14%), and Ramco Cement (-5.96%) were the biggest laggards.

Losses in Kalyan Jewellers (-10%), Biocon (-6.16%), and Coforge (-5.7%) led the Nifty Midcap 100 index to tank 1.64%, ending at 56,002.20 levels.

All the sectors ended with losses, with Nifty Realty (-2.11%) falling the most. Nifty Consumer Durables (-1.91%), Nifty Metal (-1.76%), Nifty Auto (-1.4%) and Nifty Pharma (1.3%) were the other top losers among sectors.