Sensex, Nifty Edge Down At Open, Tracking Iran War Escalation l

Mumbai, July 30: Indian stock market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty edged down at open on Thursday morning and oscillated between gains and losses through the early session tracking a fresh escalation in war between Iran and US, and weak cues from Asian stocks today and US markets overnight, even as oil prices declined after Wednesday’s sharp jump. The
broader markets traded in tandem with benchmark indices. Wednesday saw a sharp recovery of nearly 1 per cent. At 09:20 am, the Sensex was trading up 30.82 points or 0.04 per cent at 77,685.42 and Nifty was up 16.65 points or 0.07 per cent at 24,266.85. 

Gainers & Losers 

On the individual stocks front, Infosys (INFY) was the top gainer on NSE, trading at an LTP of 1,177.90 against previous close of 1,155.60, up 1.93 per cent followed by Tech Mahindra (TECHM) which rose to 1,669 from 1,644.20, up 1.51 per cent. Wipro (WIPRO) advanced to 185.90 from 183.61, up 1.25 per cent, followed by ONGC (ONGC) moving higher to 240.93 from 238.31, up 1.10 per cent. HCL Technologies (HCLTECH) gained to 1,358.40 against previous close of 1,344.30, up 1.05 per cent.  

Asian Paints (ASIANPAINT) was the top loser on NSE, trading down to 2,690.20 from a previous close of 2,758.40, down 2.47 per cent followed by Adani Ports (ADANIPORTS) declining to 1,684 from 1,719.70, down 2.08 per cent. Eternal (ETERNAL) fell to 307 from 311.80, down 1.54 per cent, InterGlobe Aviation (INDIGO) declined to 5,216 from 5,276.50, down 1.15 per cent and ICICI Bank (ICICIBANK) slipped to 1,427.60 from 1,437.90, down 0.72 per cent.  

Broad & Sectoral Markets 

On the broader markets front, all indices traded deep in red with Nifty Financial Services down 0.45 per cent, Nifty Bank down 0.43 per cent and Nifty Midcap 100 slipping 0.30 per cent. Unlike Wednesday when all broader-market indices ended in green, not a single index was trading in green on Thursday.  

Sectorally, IT index was the top gainer on NSE, rallying 0.89 per cent tracking buying in tech stocks. Pharma index rose 0.22 per cent while Metal index rose 0.14 per cent. Realty index crashed 0.89 per cent while both private and public sector bank indices each fell 0.47 per cent.  

Iran War 

The US pounded Iran with fresh air strikes on Wednesday calling it a ‘strong response’ to Tehran’s attempt to target American forces stationed in Iraq the previous day. A drone strike also targeted a US-owned gas storage tanker off Egypt’s Damietta port. While US and Saudi troops attacked Iran-backed militias in Iraq, Iran retaliated with missiles fired at American forces stationed in Jordan which drew in even more countries into the five-month-old war. Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces militia said at least 20 fighters were killed by the US-Saudi strikes highlighting dangerous fractures in Baghdad’s increasingly shaky balancing act between Washington and Tehran. Saudi Arabia’s defence minister also met US VP JD Vance in Washington on Wednesday to dissuade the administration from further escalation. Officials however warned US allies against getting dragged deeper into the war, as that may “generate major unknown risks”.  

Asian Markets on Thursday 

Asian stocks were mostly lower on Thursday morning tracking overnight US air strikes on Iran. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.22 per cent while Australia’s All Ordinaries slumped 0.57 per cent as investors reacted to the air strikes. Pakistan’s KSE 100 shed 0.89 per cent and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite eased 0.64 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 bucked the trend and was up 1.28 per cent even as majority of its regional peers traded lower. 

US Stocks on Wednesday  

US stock markets ended deep in red on Wednesday with Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting 1,153.18 points or 2.19 per cent to mark one of its worst single day performances in recent weeks. Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.74 per cent while S& P 500 shed 1.52 per cent on Wednesday. NYSE Composite and Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite also fell over 1 per cent.  

Oil Prices 

Oil prices pared gains on Thursday as Brent futures eased $1.29 or 1.42 per cent to $89.45 a barrel and WTI crude fell 56 cents or 0.66 per cent to $83.90 a barrel. The fall came after both benchmarks recorded sharp increases on Wednesday. Brent crude had settled up 7.91 per cent while WTI jumped 6.56 per cent on Wednesday among the biggest single-day percentage gains since the conflict began five months ago. However, commodity ship traffic passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait into the Red Sea on Tuesday at the highest level since July 19, even as only a few ships made it through the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts said oil had found alternative exits out of the Middle East conflict zone gradually eroding Iran’s potency to choke one of the world’s most crucial shipping points.  

Indian Markets on Wednesday 

Sensex and Nifty traded sharply higher on Wednesday continuing their recovery on broad-based buying across IT, metal, pharma, bank and FMCG stocks ahead of Fed’s rate decision later in the day. Sensex gained 888.68 points or 1.16 per cent to close at 77,654.60 while Nifty 50 advanced 264.85 points or 1.10 per cent to end at 24,250.20. About 2,460 shares advanced on NSE as compared to 1,597 declines and 177 unchanged. Stocks from the IT sector were the top gainers rallying between 1 per cent and 2 per cent powering Nifty IT higher by 1.90 per cent during the session. Buying spread to metal and pharma stocks next and a number of sectoral indices from these sectors traded with gains. Telecom stocks were also strong during the session alongside private banks, FMCG and consumer durable stocks.  

Sources

• BSE
• NSE