SENSEX, NIFTY50 snap four-day winning streak dragged by HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their four-day winning streak on Tuesday, August 4. The SENSEX fell as much as 427 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 24,427 dragged down by weakness in index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, Infosys, InterGlobe Aviation and Power Grid.

The SENSEX ended 210 points or 0.27% lower at 78,429 and NIFTY50 index declined 159 points or 0.64% to settle at 24,615.

The divergent trend in the SENSEX and NIFTY was due to change in the closing price mechanism under the newly implemented Closing Auction Session (CAS).

Selling pressure was broad-based as 13 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended lower led by the NIFTY Realty index's 2.4% fall. Realty index dropped after DLF shares declined as much as 2.75% to hit an intraday low of ₹645 after it recorded a 4.1% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its consolidated net profit to ₹793.90 crore during the quarter under review, compared with ₹762.67 crore in the first quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year (Q1 FY26).

However, on a sequential basis, its profit declined 37.4% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) from ₹1,268.6 crore in the March quarter of FY26 (Q4 FY26).

NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, Auto, IT, FMCG, Private Bank, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 0.5% and 1.15%.

On the other hand, media and metal stocks witnessed buying interest.

Broader markets ended on a mixed note as NIFTY Midcap 100 index fell 0.3% while NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.23%.

Among the individual shares, Ather Energy ended 14% higher at ₹1,450 after its loss narrowed to ₹51 crore in April-June period from ₹178 crore in the year-ago period.

KEI Industries shares soared as much as 7.8% to hit an intraday high of ₹5,414 after it reported a 40.05% YoY surge in its consolidated net profit to ₹274.14 crore in Q1 FY27, compared with ₹195.75 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, supported by margin expansion.

According to a regulatory filing, its revenue from operations jumped 22.97% YoY to ₹3,185.34 crore during the quarter, from ₹2,590.32 crore in the June quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year (Q1 FY26), driven by broad-based demand in Wires and Cables and balanced business performance.

Grasim was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 3.74% to close at ₹3,138.

HDFC Life, Bajaj Auto, Reliance Industries, Max Healthcare, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consumer Products and HDFC Bank also fell between 1.5% and 3.1%.

On the flip side, Apollo Hospitals, Hindalco, Trent, Jio Financial Services, ITC, Eternal, JSW Steel and Bajaj Finserv were among top gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was neutral as 1,708 shares ended lower while 1,602 closed higher on the NSE.