NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on July 22

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Wednesday, July 22, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Gandhinagar fell 64 points to 24,117 despite positive cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks declined for a second straight session on Tuesday defying positive trend in global markets as index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Power Grid and ITC. The SENSEX fell as much as 371 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 24,135.

The SENSEX ended 238 points lower at 77,470 and NIFTY50 index declined 51 points to close at 24,188.

Asian markets

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher following an overnight rally in US markets after chip makers came under renewed buying interest.

Japan's Nikkei surged 1.66%, China's Shanghai Composite advanced 0.36% and South Korea's Kospi advanced 5.22%.

Wall Street update

Renewed buying interest in chip makers and other artificial-intelligence related shares pushed Wall Street higher on Tuesday.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.74%, S&P 500 index advanced 0.89% and tech heavy Nasdaq surged 1.29%.

Crude oil update

Brent crude futures rose as much as 1.84% to hit an intraday high of $92.68 per barrel after the US military said it completed the 11th night of strikes on Iran early Wednesday.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth ₹1,650 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth ₹657 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this year sold shares worth ₹2,60,662 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Stocks to watch

The move comes after Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Canadian goods citing disputed over autos, alcohol and cheese.

In a post-earnings media interaction, Bajaj Auto Ltd Executive Director Rakesh Sharma said that the company would have put up a better performance in the previous quarter but for factors like inflation, supply chain issues and serious logistics issues, which "impaired" availability by 10- 15%.

Sharma also said that the company may consider roping in a strategic partner provided that its vision strategies align with the brand.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in an order passed on Tuesday said the case was initiated after a complainant alleged that JSL, Eternal Tsingshan Group -- engaged in stainless steel and nickel industry in Indonesia -- and its entities had contravened provisions of Section 3 and 4 of Act.

Sections 3 and 4 pertain to anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position, respectively.

Delhi-based Anant Raj Ltd presently operates two distinct business verticals -- a real estate business and a data centre and cloud services business.

The data centre business is presently operated through Anant Raj Ltd and its subsidiary Anant Raj Cloud Pvt Ltd (ARCPL).

According to a regulatory filing, the board approved a composite scheme of arrangement amongst Anant Raj Ltd, ARCPL (amalgamating company), and Ashok Cloud Pvt Ltd (resultant company) and their respective shareholders and creditors.

The company had posted a consolidated net loss of ₹70.31 crore in the April-June quarter of the last fiscal, New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) said in a regulatory filing.

However, its consolidated revenue from operations increased 8.9% to ₹117.23 crore in the June quarter of FY27. It was ₹107.65 crore a year ago, it added.

Its total expenses rose 10.34% to ₹201.56 crore in the June quarter of FY27.

On a standalone basis, the Mahindra group's financial services arm reported a net profit of ₹899 crore, up 70% when compared to the figure of the same period a year ago.

Its chief executive and managing director Raul Rebello said that the company was able to expand NIMs (net interest margins) to 7.3% from 6.7% in the April-June period last year on the back of better cost of funding, which he attributed to a rights issuance done by the company in the year-ago period.

Trade setup

The NIFTY50 ended Tuesday’s session in the red, shedding 50 points after recovering from its intraday lows. On the hourly charts, the index managed to defend the 50 EMA level, but closed below the 20 EMA, suggesting a lack of buying strength in the closing hours.

Additionally, on the daily charts, the index made a doji candlestick pattern, indicating indecision on the direction of the market. Meanwhile, the index closed below the crucial support zone of 24,200, indicating a lack of buying strength at higher levels.

The initial buildup for the upcoming weekly expiry on July 28 indicates a lack of clarity on the index's direction. The 24,200 calls and puts hold the highest open interest, indicating a range-bound trade for NIFTY50 on Wednesday.