Market Wrap, July 31: NIFTY50 slips below 24,800, SENSEX falls 296 points; Adani Enterprises tanks 4%

The Indian stock market settled lower despite a recovery in the afternoon session on Thursday, July 31, as investor sentiment remains jittery following US President Donald Trump’s tariff imposition on India.

A strong rally in Hindustan Unilever (HUL) following its June quarter earnings helped the indices to recover from their day’s low.

According to exchange data, on Wednesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹850.04 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹1829.11 crore on a net basis.

Globally, stocks in Asia mostly declined on Wednesday following weaker-than-expected Chinese activity data and a decline in copper prices. However, investors were also concerned after the trade deal between the US and South Korea.

Nikkei 225 settled 1.10% higher after the Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady at 0.5% and raised inflation projections. 

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1.77%, and South Korea's KOSPI dipped 0.28%, while the Shanghai Composite closed 1.19% lower.

On Wall Street, stocks closed lower after a choppy session on Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve kept its rates steady and Chairman Jerome Powell chilled expectations that the central bank might be poised to cut rates at its September meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 171.71 points, or 0.38%, to close at 44,461.28; the S&P 500 fell 7.96 points, or 0.12%, to end at 6,362.90; while the Nasdaq Composite rose 31.38 points, or 0.15%, to settle at 21,129.67.

As many as 3,044 stocks traded on the NSE on Thursday. Out of this, 1,047 advanced and 1,907 stocks declined, while 90 scrips remained unchanged.

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

A total of 72 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 50 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 82 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 60 touched their lower circuit bands on Thursday.

NSE-listed firms' market capitalisation stood at ₹446.97 lakh crore at the end of the session. Investors lost 2.54 lakh crore from the previous session.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 11.54 levels, surging 3.01%.

The Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 1.05% to end at 17,966.85 levels, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index closed 0.93% lower at 57,400.55 levels.

On the NIFTY50 index, 36 stocks declined while 14 advanced on Thursday.

Adani Enterprises took the lead among the losers’ pack, declining 4.06% as the company’s net profit fell 50% to ₹734 crore for June quarter earnings.

Tata Steel (-2.52%), Sun Pharma (-1.95%), Dr. Reddy’s (-1.93%), and NTPC (-1.51%) were the other top laggards on the 50-share index.

Hindustan Unilever was the biggest gaining stock, rising 3.55%, followed by Jio Financial Services (2.72%), JSW Steel (1.93%), Eternal (1.78%), and Kotak Mahindra Bank (1.04%).

Except for Nifty FMCG (1.44%) and Nifty Media (0.10%), all the other sectors ended in losses.

Nifty Oil and Gas (-1.48%), Nifty Pharma (-1.31%), Nifty Metal (-1.22%), Nifty PSU Bank (-0.82%), and Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.73%) were the biggest losing sectors on Thursday.