Infosys, HDFC bank drag Sensex by 164 points; Nifty ends below 15,700

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Indian benchmark equity indices closed in the red on July 1 tracking selling pressure in IT and financial stocks. Weak economic data further dented investor’ sentiment. Sensex closed at 52,318.60, down 164.11 points or 0.31%, while Nifty ended 41.50 points or 0.26% lower at 15,680.00.

“Selling was triggered in the domestic market as investors remained cautious about the increasing covid cases especially in Asia. Despite the easing of restrictions, the manufacturing PMI data for June contracted to 48.1 from 50.8 in the previous month. However, the diminishing rate of domestic infection and progress in vaccination provided some comfort to the market. Positive auto sales numbers for June helped the sector to trade in positive territory,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Economy

India’s domestic factory orders and production contracted to an 11-month low in June as measures to contain the coronavirus put manufacturing into “reverse gear”. The IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slipped to 48.1 in June from 50.8 in May and 55.5 in April. This was, for the first time since July 2020, below the critical no-change mark of 50.

Gainer & losers

Bajaj Auto, Hindalco, Tata Motors, Divi’s Lab and SBI were among other blue-chip top performers. On the other hand, L&T, Shree Cement, Wipro, UltraTech Cement, Coal India and Bajaj Finance were among other losers.

Vodafone Idea ended 9% lower in today’s trade after ICICI Securities downgraded the stock. The brokerage maintained a ‘Sell’ call on telecom company with a price target of Rs 5, indicating a nearly 45% downside from the current market price.

Sectoral strand

On the sectoral front, Nifty Pharma was the top gainer followed by Nifty Auto, Nifty FMCG and Nifty PSU Bank. Nifty IT, Nifty Realty and Nifty Bank were among the laggards. Volatility index India VIX ended 1.57% lower at 12.84.

Broader market

The broader market closed mixed as the BSE Midcap index lost 0.19% to 22,494 whereas the BSE Smallcap index settled at 25,312 higher by 0.32%. About 1632 shares have advanced, 1516 shares declined, and 118 shares are unchanged.