Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks extended their losses for fourth straight session on Thursday, as escalating tensions in the Middle East fueled surge in global oil prices. Markets made a negative start and traded their neutral lines, led by heavy selling across most sectors, with Realty, Oil & Gas, and Banking stocks emerging as the worst performers. In the afternoon session, markets extended their losses further to end the session with cut of around half a percent each.

Some of the important factors in trade:

FIIs turns net sellers: Some concern came as exchange data showed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 819.20 crore on Wednesday after a day's breather. 

Return of foreign investments shows revival of confidence in economy: Traders overlooked the Reserve Bank Bulletin said Indian economy has navigated the external uncertainties well and the recovery of foreign investments in recent months shows a revival of confidence. 

Cement industry’s stocks remained in focus: Crisil Ratings’ report stated that elevated input costs due to the ongoing West Asia conflict will pare the operating margin of cement makers by Rs 50-75 per tonne this fiscal to Rs 925-950 per tonne. 

On the global front: European markets were trading in red, after US military conducted strikes against Iran for the twelfth consecutive night with both sides increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure. Asian markets closed mostly in green as renewed AI optimism helped offset escalating Middle East tensions.

The BSE Sensex ended at 76391.39, down by 363.66 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 76151.98 and 76726.66. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The sole gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Auto up by 0.56%, while Realty down by 1.78%, Telecom down by 1.34%, Power down by 1.25%, Utilities down by 1.12%, Basic Materials down by 1.07% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 1.96%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.48%, TCS up by 1.40%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.67% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 2.21%, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.68%, Tata Steel down by 1.55%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.35% and Axis Bank down by 1.28% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, With an aim to deepen maritime cooperation between India and Panama, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), Sarbananda Sonowal held bilateral talks with Panama's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Javier Martinez-Acha Vasquez. Both sides have identified logistics, shipping, maritime security, skill development and digital transformation as the key pillars of an expanded strategic partnership. Sonowal has emphasized on combining Panama's strategic logistics strengths with India's growing maritime capabilities to build resilient supply chains, strengthen global connectivity and create new opportunities for trade, investment, innovation and sustainable growth. 

With India emerging as a global ports leader and Panama serving as one of the world's foremost maritime logistics hubs, both countries agreed that closer collaboration and the exchange of best practices would unlock new opportunities for trade, connectivity and investment across the Americas. Sonowal highlighted India's rapid transformation through sustained investments in ports, shipping, inland waterways, logistics, shipbuilding, cruise tourism and green maritime initiatives. 

Further, he reiterated that Panama is India's natural gateway to Central America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and stressed the need to improve shipping connectivity, deepen logistics partnerships and accelerate institutional cooperation to realise the untapped potential of bilateral trade. Moreover, he proposed expediting discussions on a bilateral agreement on maritime transportation and port development, expanding cooperation in green ship recycling, strengthening seafarer welfare and skill development, and promoting collaboration in port modernisation, warehousing, digital innovation and maritime infrastructure.

The CNX Nifty ended at 23869.60, down by 126.65 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 23807.20 and 23990.75. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 2.59%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.59%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.71%, TCS up by 1.57% and Eicher Motors up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 4.37%, Shriram Finance down by 3.12%, Nestle India down by 3.06%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 2.25% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.93% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; France’s CAC fell 96.89 points or 1.16% to 8,341.00, Germany’s DAX lost 181.01 points or 0.72% to 24,974.40 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 18.6 points or 0.17% to 10,698.37.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday ahead of next week's US Federal Reserve meeting, with traders expecting no change in policy rates. Market sentiments were improved further by renewed AI optimism, even as Brent crude oil prices jumped to trade more than $98 per barrel on fears of deeper supply disruptions after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis claimed an attack on two Saudi oil tankers transiting the Red Sea. Chinese shares gained as investors rotated funds away from high-valued technology, semiconductor, and AI names into defensive stocks. Japanese shares rose as the yen languished near 40-year lows, despite expectations of faster Bank of Japan rate hikes and potential currency intervention. Furthermore, Seoul stocks soared after Google's parent company, Alphabet reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue driven by strong cloud growth, and lifted its forecast for capital expenditures to support booming AI demand. Investors also cheered by data that showed South Korea's economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, driven by a semiconductor export boom.