Stock Market: Sensex tanks 460 pts, Nifty at 24,907; Bajaj Finance leads losers

The Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 opened lower on Friday amid a mixed set of global cues. The India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to boost two-way trade by eliminating tariffs on cars, textiles, whisky, and a variety of other goods, failed to lift the market segment

At 9:22 am, the BSE Sensex was trading at 81,743.78, down 440.39 points or 0.54 per cent. The BSE barometer fell nearly 460 points earlier in the session. The NSE Nifty50 fell 150.40 points, or 0.60 per cent, to 24,911.70, after hitting an intraday low of 24,907.45. Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said that after Thursday’s sharp selloff, it seems the bears have regained control of Dalal Street. Nifty remains vulnerable below the key 25300 hurdle, with major support at 24881—any close below this could invite further downside.

“Sentiment is weighed down by five key negatives: overbought technicals, FII outflows (Rs 28,307 crore in July), profit booking, weak Q1 earnings, and uncertainty over US-India trade talks. Sectoral pain was sharpest in IT and FMCG, with INFY, Coforge, and Nestle dragging. IEX plunged 29% after market coupling approval by CERC. On the flip side, Canara Bank and Force Motors rallied post strong Q1 numbers,” Tapse said.

“For today, Nifty (CMP 25060) and Bank Nifty (CMP 57066) are a sell on rise; traders are advised to stay cautious with aggressive downside targets. Watch VOLTAS, CUMMINS, and DLF on the short side; M&M is a strong buy on dips, supported by a bullish breakout setup,” Tapse added.

Among Sensex stocks, Bajaj Finance dropped 6.17 per cent to Rs 899.80, leading the index losers. Bajaj Finserv followed with a 4.42 per cent fall. Other losers included Tata Steel (down 1 per cent), Hindustan Unilever (down 0.88 per cent), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 0.7 per cent), and UltraTech Cement (down 0.6 per cent).

Larsen & Toubro was in the spotlight on Friday after some media reports suggested that Torrent Power was in talks to acquire the thermal business unit of L&T for about $1 billion, including debt.

The Adani Group company, Adani Enterprises, was in focus today as the company decided to divest a 50 per cent stake in its subsidiary Kutch Copper Tubes to MetTube Mauritius. At the same time, the company will acquire a 50 per cent stake in MetTube Copper India, a company owned by MetTube. At 9:33 am, the company shares were trading at Rs 2613.95, up 6.35 or 0.24 per cent.

Several companies, including Bajaj Finserv, Bank of Baroda, Cipla, Shriram Finance, SBI Cards & Payment Services, Schaeffler India, Petronet LNG, Laurus Labs, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Poonawalla Fincorp, Tata Chemicals, Aadhar Housing Finance, Grindwell Norton, ACME Solar, Sobha and Intellect Design are in the spotlight on Friday as they are scheduled to report their first-quarter earnings.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said, "The India-UK FTA, which is India’s first comprehensive trade agreement with a major developed country, has two implications from the market perspective. One, this FTA will significantly boost trade between both countries, which will be seen as a positive by the market.

“Two, this FTA along with many other FTAs signed by India with other countries, projects India as a nation committed to free trade. The fact that this FTA has come during a time of tariff wars is commendable, and hopefully this will improve India’s chances of striking a fair-trade deal with the US,” Vijayakumar said.

Vijayakumar said that sectors like textiles, leather, food processing, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and gems and jewellery, which are expected to benefit from the FTA, will be on the market radar.

“The near-term market construct has turned weak. Sustained FII selling of Rs 11572 crores in the last four trading days will weigh on the market. The weakness in the broader market, particularly in smallcaps, might continue since valuations had turned excessive and difficult to justify," he added.

The opening comes after a negative closing on Thursday, where the Sensex settled at 82,184.17, down 542.47 points, or 0.66 per cent, and the Nifty50 fell 157.80 points, or 0.63 per cent, to settle at 25,062.10.