NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on July 23

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to stage a gap down opening on Thursday, July 23, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Gandhinagar fell 114 points to 23,874 as spike in crude prices defied positive cues from other Asian markets.

The benchmarks fell for a third straight session on Wednesday and posted their worst single day performance since April 22 as surging crude oil prices in international markets dented investor sentiment.

The SENSEX fell as much as 823 points and NIFTY50 index dropped below its important psychological level of 24,000 and touched an intraday low of 23,961 dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Infosys and InterGlobe Aviation.

The SENSEX ended 715 points or 0.92% lower at 76,755 and NIFTY50 index dropped 191 point or 0.8% to settle at 23,996.

In the last three trading sessions, the SENSEX has dropped 1.79% and NIFTY50 index has tumbled 1.4%, data from stock exchanges showed.

Asia markets

Japan's Nikkei 0.4%, China's Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.02%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.1% and South Korea's KOSPI surged 2.6%.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended lower on Wednesday tracking a surge in oil prices. Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.01% lower, S&P 500 index slipped 0.14% and Nasdaq declined 0.57%.

Crude oil update

Brent crude futures rose as much as 2.5% to hit an intraday high of $96.42 per barrel after US Central Command said that US forces launched more strikes against Iranian military targets on Wednesday at the Commander in Chief's direction.

"The mission will continue to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters," it said.

It also reiterated that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. "The international waterway remains open for transit regardless of IRGC threats and attacks. Commercial vessels continue to use the strait with S. military support. Since early May, American forces have helped more than 900 ships transit the strait," the defence force said.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹819 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth ₹418 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this year sold shares worth ₹2,57,045 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Stocks to watch

The Mumbai-based lender had reported a net profit of ₹604.07 crore in the year-ago period, and ₹594.17 crore in the quarter-ago period.

The multi-year contract marks a “significant milestone” for the partnership between HAL and Safran Aircraft Engines, an official statement said.

The contract was signed by Praveen B, General Manager, Foundry and Forge Division, HAL, and Dominique Dupuy, Senior Vice President, Purchasing, Safran Aircraft Engines, in the presence of Ravi K, Chairman and Managing Director, HAL, and Jayakrishnan S, CEO (Bengaluru complex), HAL, at the Farnborough International Airshow on Wednesday.

Under the agreement, HAL will manufacture near-net shape ring forgings for the LEAP engine at its state-of-the-art Ring Rolling facility in Bengaluru.

The company had posted a net profit of ₹258 crore in the April-June quarter a year ago, according to a regulatory filing from United Spirits Ltd (USL).

Its revenue from operations was up 4.98% to ₹6,113 crore in the June quarter under review. It was ₹5,823 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

USL's total expenses were up 4.63% at ₹5,781 crore in the June quarter.

The partnership will be implemented through two strategic JVs focusing on high-voltage liquid-cooled traction inverters, traction motors and generators for electric and hybrid four-wheelers and larger vehicle applications and the other one on air-cooled traction inverters, traction motors and generators, and e-Axles for electric and hybrid two-wheelers and three-wheelers, the company said.

The partnership between Bharat Forge Limited and Flying Whales marks a decisive step towards building an indigenous airship ecosystem in India, aligned to the government's Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives, the Indian company said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

"Bharat Forge Limited, through its Aerospace Division, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Flying Whales, a French-Canadian global pioneer in heavy-lift airship technology to jointly develop, manufacture and field, advanced airships for India's defence and strategic operational requirements," said the statement.

The company had posted a net loss of ₹15.74 crore in the April-June period a year ago, according to a regulatory filing by the Raheja family-promoted retail chain.

Its revenue from operations increased 11.225 to ₹1,291.41 crore in the June quarter of FY27 compared to ₹1,161.08 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The Kolkata-based bank had earned a net profit of ₹607 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year.

Total income rose to ₹8,682 crore during the June quarter of 2026-27, from ₹7,433 crore a year ago, UCO Bank said in a regulatory filing.

Interest earned by the bank improved to ₹6,996 crore, as compared to ₹6,436 crore in the June quarter of FY26.