NIFTY50 and SENSEX trade in range, Bajaj Auto and Coal India among top gainers

The Indian markets opened the day on a positive note today but struggled to sustain their early momentum, leading to a pullback. The NIFTY50 index initially slipped below the 24,800 mark and fell below its previous trading session's low. However, it managed to recover from the lower levels, reclaiming the 24,800 level, trading higher by 20 points. Similarly, the SENSEX added 17 points, trading above 81,050 level. The Nifty Bank was trading above the key psychological level of 51,000, up by 20 points. Stocks like ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors supported the markets. However, after reaching a record high, IT stocks witnessed some profit booking, particularly in Infosys and TCS, which exerted downward pressure on the index. The overall market activity remained subdued as participants' focus turned to Jerome Powell's upcoming speech at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday. Investors widely anticipate that Powell will signal a reduction in the Federal Reserve’s policy restrictiveness starting in September, though specifics on the pace and scale of this reduction remains uncertain.

On the sectoral front, the majority of the indices were in red, led by Nifty Realty (-1.42%) and Nifty IT (-0.83%). On the flipside, Nifty Auto (+1.19%) was the top gainer, marking a fresh two-week high. Broader markets traded mixed, with Nifty Smallcap 100 trading marginally above the dotted line, while the Nifty Midcap 100 was down by 0.05%. Market breadth was slightly skewed in favour of advances, with 1,233 advancing stocks compared to 1,068 declining ones.