Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended lower for the second straight session on Tuesday amid West Asia tensions. Index made a flat-to-negative start, as traders were cautious with persistent foreign fund inflow. As per exchange data, foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,121.04 on July 20. Soon, index extended its losses, driven by sharp selloff in stocks of HDFC Bank, Infosys and Reliance industries. In second half of the session, the market continued to trade weak until the end of the session, as market participants avoided risky bids ahead of weekly F&O expiry. Meanwhile, traders overlooked the government’s latest data, which showed that growth in India’s core industrial sector activity accelerated to 5% in June 2026, the fastest pace in five months. Finally, Nifty ended below 24,200 mark.
Traders were seen piling up positions in Chemicals, Cement and Realty stocks, while selling was witnessed in PSU Bank, IT and Oil & Gas. The top gainers from the F&O segment were TVS Motor Company, Manappuram Finance and Muthoot Finance. On the other hand, the top losers were One 97 Communications, Premier Energies and Waaree Energies. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 25400 - 25600 calls and 24100 - 24300 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility decreased by 2.92% and reached 12.60. The 50 share Nifty down by 50.80 point or 0.21% to settle at 24,187.70.
Nifty July 2026 futu