SENSEX, NIFTY50 fall for fourth straight session on surging crude as tensions in West Asia flare up

The Indian equity benchmarks fell for a fourth straight session on Thursday, July 23, as investor sentiment remained negative as surging crude prices reignited fears that spike in inflation could negatively impact earnings.

The SENSEX fell as much as 603 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 23,811 dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel.

The SENSEX ended 364 points lower at 76,391 and NIFTY50 index declined 127 points to close at 23,870.

In the last four trading sessions, the SENSEX has fallen 2.25% and NIFTY50 index has declined 1.9%, data from stock exchanges showed.

Selling pressure was broad-based as 13 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the NIFTY Realty index's 1.8% fall. NIFTY Bank, Oil & Gas, Financial Services, Metal, PSU Bank, and Private Bank indices also fell between 0.75% and 1.2%.

On the other hand, auto and select media shares witnessed buying interest.

Broader markets also came under selling pressure as NIFTY Midcap 100 and NIFTY Smallcap 100 indices dropped 1% each.

Among the individual shares, NTPC Green Energy rose as much as 9% to hit an intraday high of ₹99.60 on the NSE after the company said that its net profit in June quarter rose 55% to ₹305 crore and its revenue from operations advanced 21% to ₹1,107 crore.

HEG shares advanced as much as 13% to hit an intraday high of ₹675.90 after it reported a growth of 16% in its consolidated net profit at ₹122 crore in Q1 FY27, compared to ₹743 crore in the same period last year.

The company’s revenue from operations increased 11% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹681 crore during the quarter under review, as against ₹613 crore in the June quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year (Q1 FY26).

Adani Enterprises was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 4.25% to close at ₹3,014. Nestle India, Shriram Finance, Adani Ports, Grasim, Bajaj Finance, IndiGo, JSW Steel, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries also fell between 1.2% and 3.44%.

On the flip side, SBI Life, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, TCS, Tata Consumer Products, Eicher Motors, Eternal, Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco and HCL Tech were top gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was negative as 2,101 shares ended lower while 1,155 closed higher on the NSE.