The domestic market ended nearly flat, lacking clear direction amid mixed earnings announcements and muted global cues. Investors, staging cautious stance, seemed to have opted for profit booking.
After opening with a positive note, the market slipped into weakness in the early part of the session. It later shifted into a choppy movement with weak bias for better part of the session, Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, said.
Sensex dipped by 13.53 pts or 0.02 per cent to close at 82,186.81 after positive opening at 82,527.43 against previous close of 82,200.34. Nifty 50 dropped 29.80 pts or 0.12 per cent to 25,060.90.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, highlighted thatmarket’s attention is on quarterly earnings, which slowed lately after some traction from banking stocks.
Positivity noticed on Friday and Monday tapered ahead the critical August 1, 2025, deadline of US trade agreement.
“Upside in Q1 earnings will be the critical point to sustain the current premium valuations. Continued profit booking by the FIIs exerts downward pressure, while steady inflows from DIIs could support a range-bound movement with a positive bias towards Q1 results and the trade deal.” Nair added.
According to Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, traders should adopt a hedged approach and focus on fundamentally strong counters.
The broader market also mirrored this bearish sentiment, with Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices closing in negative territory. The market breadth remained weak — in the Nifty 500 universe, 317 stocks ended lower, pushing the advance/decline ratio firmly in favour of the bears.
On the sectoral front, financials was the only index that ended flat, while all other indices ended in red with media topping the list with over 2 per cent loss. PSU Bank, pharma and realty also depreciated over 1 per cent.
Sudeep Shah, Head – Technical Research and Derivatives at SBI Securities, highlighted that India VIX, the fear gauge, dropped over 4 per cent and closed at its lowest level since the last week of April 2024, reflecting a decline in near-term volatility expectations despite the broad sell-off.
Top gainers & losers today
Shares of Eternal topped the list of Nifty 50 gainers (hitting a record high intraday). Grasim, Wipro, Jio Financial, Hindalco and Bharat Electronics were also among the gainers.
Infosys — among key companies to announce Q1 results tomorrow — has ended with marginal gains.
On the flip side, IndusInd, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Maruti and Adani Ports featurede among major laggards.
HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank extended their post-earnings gain since Monday.
About 1,489 stocks advanced and 1,081 declined of all the 3,157 stocks that were traded on the National Stock Exchange. Choice International, Dalmia Bharat, Datamatics, Eternal and Force Motors featured among 74 stocks that hit 52-week high.
Among the Nifty PSU Bank index, Central Bank of India, Union Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, UCO Bank and PNB ended flat or with marginal gains, while IOB, Bank of India and PSB dipped.
On the BSE, shares of AGI Greenpac and Tilaknagar Industries rallied 12-15 per cent, while Kirloskar Pneumatic Company, 360 ONE WAM and Zee Entertainment tanked 6-11 per cent.
Asian markets staged mixed trends.
Wall Street ended mostly higher on Monday. FIIs offloaded equities worth ₹1,681.23 crore on Monday, and DIIs bought stocks worth ₹3,578.43 crore.
On Monday, the Sensex climbed 442.61 pts or 0.54 per cent to settle at 82,200.34 and Nifty 50 soared 122.30 pts or 0.49 per cent to 25,090.70.
Published on July 22, 2025