Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks extended their losses for third straight session on Monday, with both the Nifty and Sensex closing over half percent cut, amid selling across sectors particularly in IT. Markets made a cautious start and traded near the neutral lines, as traders remained cautious ahead of the US tariff deadline set to take effect later this week. During the afternoon session, indices extended their losses and settled near day’s low points.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

India's forex kitty drops by $1.18 billion to $695.48 billion: Traders were concerned as the RBI said that India's forex kitty declined by $1.18 billion to $695.48 billion during the week ended July 18, 2025.

FIIs sell stocks worth Rs 1,979.96 crore: Continued foreign fund outflows also dampened sentiments in the domestic markets. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold stocks worth of Rs 1,979.96 crore on Friday.

Talks with US on proposed trade agreement progressing fast: Investors overlooked Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that talks with the US on the proposed trade agreement are progressing fast, adding that negotiations for a free trade agreement with Oman are almost finalised. 

Global front: European markets were trading in green, while Asian markets ended mostly higher, as the EU and the U.S. struck a last-minute trade agreement and reports suggested the U.S. and China are likely to extend their tariff truce for another 90 days. 

The BSE Sensex ended at 80891.02, down by 572.07 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 80776.44 and 81557.41. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.73%, while Small cap index down by 1.31%. (Provisional)

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.16% and FMCG up by 0.12%, while Realty down by 4.11%, Telecom down by 1.56%, Capital Goods down by 1.49%, Industrials down by 1.40% and Bankex down by 1.35% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.23%, Asian Paints up by 1.06%, ICICI Bank up by 0.73%, Power Grid Corp up by 0.43% and ITC up by 0.11%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 7.50%, Bajaj Finance down by 3.53%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.51%, Titan Company down by 2.17% and TCS down by 1.61% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, amid global uncertainties, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that maintaining sustained growth is the top priority, and an incremental rise in public capital expenditure is one of the drivers for economic development. The statement assumes significance as the Indian economy grew by 6.5 per cent in FY25. This growth was the slowest in four years, and compares to a 9.2 per cent expansion in the previous 2023-24 fiscal. The Economic Survey has projected the GDP growth for FY26 between 6.3 per cent and 6.8 per cent, while the RBI lowered its growth forecast from an earlier level of 6.7 per cent to 6.5 per cent for the ongoing financial year.

She said ‘To maintain the growth is the topmost priority. Growth is the topmost, and therefore, it will have an overlap with how you create jobs…’ She said keeping India relevant amid global challenges and being there in a leadership position, and moving forward along with other countries are other priority areas, and added that the priority would also be to redefine the voice of the Global South. She further said finding resources for meeting many domestic economic aspirations within fiscal constraints is another priority.

She said ‘Public investments have kept pace. It has been Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clear instruction that we have to have capital expenditure grow and grow significantly. I confidently believe that it is one of the primary drivers of sustained economic growth’. The other focus area of the government is to push growth through a friendly and attractive FDI policy to be able to get more and more investments happening in India. Besides, the healthy competition among states to attract investment is also a good sign. About bilateral trade deals, she said such agreements are taking priority over multilateral trade.

The CNX Nifty ended at 24680.90, down by 156.10 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 24646.60 and 24889.20. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 2.86%, Cipla up by 2.58%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.43%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.08% and Asian Paints up by 1.00%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 7.44%, Bajaj Finance down by 3.64%, Wipro down by 3.53%, Indusind Bank down by 2.63% and Bharti Airtel down by 2.46% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; France’s CAC rose 51.02 points or 0.65% to 7,885.60, Germany’s DAX gained 108.4 points or 0.45% to 24,325.90 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 11.09 points or 0.12% to 9,131.40.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Monday after the US and EU reached a tariff deal including a 15% tariff on EU goods, down from the 30% originally proposed, while the US and China expected to extend tariff truce by 3 months at trade talks in Stockholm. Market sentiments improved further as the US prepared for an especially busy week that will bring earnings from several major tech companies, a key Federal Reserve meeting, President Donald Trump’s August 1 tariff deadline and key data releases. However, Japanese shares declined sharply due to profit taking ahead of the Bank of Japan's rate decision on Thursday for hints about the near-term rate outlook.