Indian benchmark indices declined during the opening trade on Monday, with the NSE Nifty 50 index falling 30 points to 24,300 and the BSE Sensex dropping 150 points to 79,841.
Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Private Bank, and Nifty Consumer Durables faced selling pressure during the opening trade.
In the Nifty 50 list, the top gainers were Tata Motors, Cipla, Apollo Hospitals, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, and Mahindra & Mahindra. Shares of Titan, Shriram Finance, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, and Divi’s Laboratories declined the most.
Ajay Bagga, banking and market expert, said that the earnings season and the Union Budget, expected to be presented on July 23, are likely to influence market sentiment for the next few weeks.
“Globally, with a soft US labor market and rising unemployment, the probability of a Fed rate cut in September has gone up to 78 percent. US corporate earnings will be key drivers of global markets this week, with good earnings growth factored in,” Bagga said.
“Any negative surprise on earnings in India or the US will lead to a heavy sell-off, as we have seen with muted operational results in some index heavyweights leading to sharp falls in those stocks. Overall markets may be in a wait-and-watch mode and try to digest the sharp rise of the last few weeks”, he added.
(With ANI input)