Market Wrap, July 17: NIFTY50 slips below 25,200, SENSEX falls 375 points as IT stocks drag; Tech Mahindra top loser

The Indian stock market settled lower on Thursday, July 17, majorly dragged by IT stocks as investors remain jittery amid earnings announcements and foreign fund outflows.

The market participants also kept their wait-and-watch stance on the back of US-India trade talks and Q1 earnings announcements.

On Wednesday, Trump indicated that the ongoing negotiations between India and the US for a much-anticipated interim trade deal are on track and it could be sealed soon. India and the US have been holding negotiations for the trade pact primarily to keep the tariffs below 20%.

The IT stocks declined the most among sectors, with LTIMindtree and Tech Mahindra being the biggest laggards.

According to exchange data, on Wednesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹1,858.15 crore on a net basis, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased ₹1,223.55 crore worth of equities.

Globally, most of the stocks in Asia ended with gains, tracking the US market.

Japan's Nikkei ended up 0.26% at 39,901.19 levels, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.08% at 24,498.95 levels.

The Shanghai Composite was seen at the 3,516.83 level, rising 0.37%, while South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 0.19% to close at 3,192.29.

Stocks on Wall Street settled with modest gains on Wednesday amid reports of Trump being set to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The Nasdaq Composite closed at a new record high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 231.49 points, or 0.53%, to 44,254.78, and the S&P 500 rose 19.94 points, or 0.32%, to 6,263.70. The Nasdaq Composite ended at 20,730.49, gaining 52.69 points, or 0.26%.

As many as 3,023 stocks traded on the NSE on Thursday. Out of this, 1,433 advanced and 1,503 stocks declined, while 87 scrips remained unchanged.

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

A total of 71 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 19 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 89 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 40 touched their lower circuit bands on Thursday.

NSE-listed firms' market capitalisation stood at ₹458.51 lakh crore at the end of the session.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 11.24 levels, inching up marginally by 0.02%.

The Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 0.12% to end at 19,117.30 levels, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index closed 0.17% lower at 59,519.10 levels.

Tech Mahindra was the biggest losing stock, falling 2.72%, followed by IndusInd Bank (-1.9%), Infosys (-1.67%), Wipro (-1.54%), and SBI Life Insurance (-1.46%).

On the flip side, Tata Consumer Products (2.01%), Tata Steel (1.68%), Hindalco Industries (0.79%), Mahindra & Mahindra (0.61%), and Trent (0.59%) were the highest-gaining stocks on the 50-share index.

Nifty IT led the pack of losers among sectors, slipping 1.39%, followed by Nifty PSU Bank (-0.79), Nifty Private Bank (-0.58%), Nifty Media (-0.25%), and Nifty Oil and Gas (-0.20%).

Meanwhile, Nifty Realty (1.24%), Nifty Metal (0.67%), Nifty Consumer Durables (0.50%), Nifty Pharma (0.38%), and Nifty FMCG (0.28%) were the gainers on Thursday.