Stock market closing: Sensex, Nifty close the week in red, Sensex tumbles over 800 points

Both indices, Nifty and Sensex saw a bloodbath on Friday, with Sensex dipping around 885.6 points to close at 80,981.95 points, while NSE dipped 1.17% to close at 24,717.70 points on August 2, 2024.

Divis Labs (up by 1.74%), HDFC Bank (up by 1.17%), Dr Reddy (up by 0.84%), Sun Pharma (up by 0.80%) and Britannia (up by 0.63%) were amongst the top gainers during the day, while Eicher Motors (down by 5.15%), Tata Motors (down by 4.32%), Maruti (down by 4.06%), JSW Steel (down by 3.91%) and Hindalco (down by 3.89%) were amongst the leading laggards during the day.

Out of the 2,771 stocks traded during the day, 1,059 saw advances, while 1,630 saw declines, while another 82 remained unchanged. 152 stocks hit their 52-week high price and 32 stocks hit their 52-week low price as well. 108 stocks remained in the upper circuit during the day, while 81 stocks remained in the lower circuit, or hit their minimum permissible trading price during a singular trading session.

Amidst broad market indices, Nifty next 50 was down by 1.30%, Nifty 100 was down by 1.10%, Nifty 200 dipped by 1.08%, Nifty 500 was down by 1.05% and midcap 50 was down by 1.43%. With the exception of India VIX, which rose 11.4% during the day, all other indices closed the day in red.

As for sectoral indices, IT was down by 2.41%, metal was down by 2.70%, PSU banks were down by 1.72%, realty was down by 3.53% and oil and gas dipped by 1.24% during the day. Only healthcare and pharma indices closed the day in green.

What are the experts saying?

Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd noted that today, the markets traded under pressure and lost over a percent due to weak global cues. After a gap-down start, Nifty fluctuated within a range and eventually closed near the day's low. Most sectors mirrored the benchmark's decline, with realty, auto, and metal being the top losers. The broader indices also fell, each losing over half a percent.

"Nifty struggled to surpass the hurdle at 25,100, and Friday's close suggests a potential further dip toward the immediate support zone around the 20-day EMA around 24,500 level. Besides earnings, participants are also taking cues from the global front, particularly the US, which has been experiencing significant volatility recently. Given this scenario, it is advisable to limit overnight leveraged positions and opt for hedged trades", he continued.

Amol Athawale, VP-Technical Research, Kotak securities explained that today, our markets followed the trend of world equity markets, which closed with a massive drop in the last few days. They were down due to weak economy-related data as well as disappointing quarterly numbers. However, our markets held up relatively better than world markets, which fell by over 1.50%. Weekly, Nifty fell by 0.40%, while Sensex was down by 300 points.

"Realty, auto, and IT fell by over 2% weekly, while the Nifty pharma index was up nominally. We saw particular buying interest in new-age companies after Zomato's Q1 numbers. Technically, the market managed to climb to new highs during the week. Nifty and Sensex achieved major milestones by crossing 25000 on the Nifty and 82000 on the Sensex. However, currently, most stocks and indices are close to important resistance levels, and we may see consolidation for a few days or weeks", said Athawale.

"On an immediate basis, the market is finding support between 24,600/80,900 and 24,500/80,600 levels. On the other hand, until the market crosses 25,100/82,200, we may see a range-bound movement in the market. The strategy should be to buy selective stocks between 24,600 and 24,500/80,900 and 80,600 levels. A close below 24,500/80,600 may take the market towards 24,250/79,900 or 24,100/79,500 levels. Any bounce towards 24,900-25,000/81,700-82000 levels will be an opportunity to reduce long positions", he continued.