Indian benchmark indices, which started Monday’s trading on a positive note due to a sharp uptick in heavyweight HDFC Bank, failed to sustain their rally as the session progressed. A sharp sell-off in Kotak Mahindra Bank and IT major Infosys pulled the indices lower, resulting in a negative finish for the day.
The Nifty 50 wrapped up the session with a drop of 0.45%, closing at 24,741, while the Sensex finished the trading day down by 0.05%, closing at 81,180. Out of the 50 stocks in the Nifty 50, 36 closed in the red, with Tata Consumer Products leading the decline at 7%. This was followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finserv, BPCL, and IndusInd Bank, all of which experienced losses exceeding 3%.
Additionally, other notable stocks such as Trent, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports & SEZ, Hindalco Industries, Britannia Industries, Cipla, Bajaj Finance, Bharat Electronics, UltraTech Cement, and Grasim Industries recorded declines of over 1.5%. Industries ending with drops of over 1.5%
On the gainers’ side, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Eicher Motors posted gains of up to 4.3%.
In contrast, the broader market experienced significant selling pressure today, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index plunging 1.73% to 57,634 points. Meanwhile, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell to 18,766 points, down 1.63% from the previous closing level.
The Q2 FY25 earnings season has provided little cause for optimism thus far, exhibiting generally subdued underlying trends across sectors. This has adversely affected investor sentiment, as most stocks are trading at elevated valuations that necessitate strong performance to sustain these levels.
Sectoral performance
Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Auto Index concluded the session with a gain of 0.34%, marking its second consecutive day of gains. The rebound in Bajaj Auto shares, supported by Mahindra & Mahindra, significantly contributed to the index’s positive performance.
Aside from the auto sector, all other major indices closed in the negative territory. The Nifty Media index fell by 2.6%, while the Nifty Metal, Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Realty, and Nifty IT indices all recorded losses of over 1%.
