Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) made net investments of ₹3,370.90 crores in share purchases, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares for a net total of ₹193.02 crores.
During the month until July 21, FIIs made net purchases of shares worth ₹19,696.66 crore, while DIIs sold shares worth ₹10,196.92 crore. However, despite these investment trends, the domestic equities market experienced a downturn on Friday, breaking a six-day winning streak. The Nifty witnessed a continuous decline throughout the day and closed at approximately 19,745 levels after opening at a lower price. Several industries saw losses, with the IT sector facing the greatest setbacks, followed by FMCG and energy companies.
While the overall market sentiments were mixed, the performance of broader indices, representing a wider range of stocks, played a role. Post the Q1 results, shares of Infosys and HUL witnessed declines. Another key index component, Reliance Industries (RIL), also experienced a downturn ahead of its Q1 results, which were anticipated later that day.
The benchmark index, S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 887.64 points or 1.31% to 66,684.26. Similarly, the Nifty 50 index declined by 234.15 points or 1.17% to 19,745. During the past six consecutive sessions, the Sensex had gained 3.33%, while the Nifty rose by 3.07%. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined by 0.26%, while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose by 0.13%.
Major drags on the market included Infosys (down 8.18%), Hindustan Unilever (down 3.65%), Reliance Industries (down 3.19%), and TCS (down 2.68%). Market breadth was negative, with 1,615 shares rising and 1,773 shares falling on the BSE. A total of 126 shares remained unchanged. The NSE’s India VIX, which gauges market volatility expectations, declined by 2.54% to 11.49.
Mr. Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, provided daily market commentary, noting that domestic equities paused just before reaching the 20k zone. The Nifty opened lower due to selling in IT stocks after Infosys lowered its FY24 growth guidance. The Nifty closed with a loss of 234 points (-1.2%) at 19,745 levels. Broader markets showed mixed results, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down by -0.4%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose by +0.7%. Except for PSU Bank and Auto sectors, all other sectors ended in the red, with IT, Consumer Durables, and FMCG being the major laggards. Investors are closely monitoring the upcoming policy meetings of the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank next week, along with various macro data releases. As the result season gains momentum, there is expected to be a lot of stock-specific actions influencing the domestic equities market in the coming week. Investors will also closely follow the results of Index heavyweight Reliance and the Banking sector, with ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank announcing their results over the weekend.
