Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Wednesday’s trading session in deep red, as traders were cautious after ratings agency Fitch cut the US credit rating from AAA to AA+, citing expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years. Index made a negative start, as sentiments were downbeat with report stating that India’s services trade surplus fell to $36.4 billion in the April-June quarter of 2023-24, the lowest in three quarters, as services export growth slowed down amid the economic downturn in developed economies. Traders were also concerned amid foreign fund outflows. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth net Rs 92.85 crore on August 1.
In afternoon session, index extended its losses and slipped in deep red, as investors were cautious with reports stating that the central government's debt stood at Rs 155.6 lakh crore or 57.1 per cent of the GDP at the end of March 2023. Traders overlooked a report stating that India and the UK are close to concluding negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA), chief negotiators of both countries will hold the 12th round of talks from August 7. Both sides are looking at concluding the talks before the end of the year. Finally, index ended in negative terrain with over a percent cut.
All the sectorial indices ended in red. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Indiabulls Housing Finance, PVR INOX and Berger Paints India. On the other hand, the top losers were Piramal Enterprises, Max Financial Services and Zee Entertainment Enterprises. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 19900 - 20100 calls and 19600 - 19800 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
