The Indian stock market continued its downward momentum as it ended lower on Monday amid a potential delay in the India-US trade agreement and continued FII outflow.
Sensex closed at 80,891.02, down 572.07 points or 0.70 per cent. The 30-share index began the session in the negative territory at 81,299.97 against the last day’s closing of 81,463.09. The index dragged down further to touch an intraday low at 80,776.44 amid selling in heavyweights, especially in the IT sector.
Nifty settled at 24,680.90, down 156.10 or 0.63 per cent.
“Domestic market sentiment has remained cautious, weighed down by a disappointing set of Q1 earnings, delays in the India-US trade agreement, and continued FII outflows,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.
In contrast, global markets remain broadly positive, supported by the US-EU trade developments that are perceived as less concerning than anticipated, Nair added.
The upcoming monetary policy decisions from the Fed and Bank of Japan, along with the trajectory of domestic quarterly earnings, are expected to play a pivotal role in shaping market direction in the near term.
Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bharati Airtel, Titan, TCS, HCL Tech, SBI, Tata Steel, Eternal, Axis Bank, and Mahindra and Mahindra were top losers among the Sensex basket. Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, and ICICI Bank ended the session in green.
Broader indices also experienced the heat of selling pressure. Nifty 100 fell 157 points or 0.62 per cent, Nifty Midcap 100 dropped 490 points or 0.84 per cent, and Nifty Smallcap 100 settled 229 points or 1.26 per cent.
Sectoral indices followed suit as well. Bank Nifty fell 444 Points, Nifty Fin Service closed 192 points down, Nifty IT dropped 253 points, and Nifty Auto ended the session 88 points down.
Rupee traded weak by 0.10 per cent at 86.65 as weakness in capital markets weighed on sentiment.
The week ahead is expected to remain volatile with key global triggers including the 1st August trade deal deadline with the U.S., along with major U.S. data releases. The rupee is likely to trade in a range of 86.25–86.90,” said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities.
