Closing Bell: Nifty ends below 11,100, Sensex falls 129 pts; pharma stocks outperform

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Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities

The short term trend of Nifty is slightly negative amidst a range movement. Important lower supports to be watched for the resumption of downtrend is at 11000 levels. The overall pattern signal a possibility of upside bounce from here or from the lows. Immediate resistance for the next week is placed around 11300-11350.

Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

We closed within the range of 11000-11100 which means markets are still rangebound and do not have a definite direction. We should go past either level in the coming week which will result in a one way move of at least 200 points. Until then it would be a wait and watch the situation.

Sanjeev Zarbade, VP PCG Research, Kotak Securities
 
This week, the global markets were in a consolidation mode and a similar thing played out in India as well; as reflected by the BSE-30 Index which declined 1.3% in the current week. Market mood remained cautious due to insufficient progress on the next round of US fiscal stimulus, worries about credit risks in Indian banks and valuation related concerns. Ultratech Cement, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Tech Mahindra were the top gainers while ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank lost the most in the BSE-30 Index. 

FPIs bought equities worth USD791 mn over the past five trading sessions while DIIs sold USD 593 mn worth of equities in the same period.

Market Close: Benchmark indices slipped for the third consecutive day on July 31 and started August series on negative note with Nifty below 11,100.

At close, the Sensex was down 129.18 points or 0.34% at 37606.89, and the Nifty was down 28.70 points or 0.26% at 11073.50. About 1221 shares have advanced, 1407 shares declined, and 168 shares are unchanged.

Eicher Motors, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints and Bajaj Auto were among major losers on the Nifty, while gainers were Cipla, Grasim Industries, Sun Pharma, SBI and UPL.

On the sectoral front, pharma index outperformed the other indices with FMCG, IT and metal ended in the green, while selling witnessed in the energy, auto and infra sectors.

Mahindra Holidays Q1:

The company's consolidated net loss was at Rs27.6 crore versus profit of Rs 3.7 crore and revenue was down 59.3% at Rs 249 crore versus Rs 611 crore, reported CNBC-TV18.

Earnings:

Sun Pharma has posted net loss at Rs 1,655.6 crore in the quarter ended June 2020 and revenue stood at Rs 7,585.3 crore. Other income was at Rs 153.8 crore versus Rs 213 crore and tax expense was at Rs 245.9 crore versus Rs 146.1 crore.

SEBI:

The new norms for margin collection in cash market postponed to September 1, 2020. Flat 20% to be collected from client for margin purposes, while no change in margin levied by exchange on the broker (VAR+ELM), reported CNBC-TV18.

Earnings:

Dr Lal PathLabs has posted 51.9 percent fall in its Q1 net profit at Rs 28.4 crore versus Rs 59.1 crore in a year ago period. Its revenue was down 20.6% at Rs 266 crore against Rs 335.2 crore, reported CNBC-TV18.

Market Updates: Benchmark indices recovered but still trading lower with Nifty below 11,100.

At 14:28 IST, the Sensex was down 88.42 points or 0.23% at 37647.65, and the Nifty was down 17.80 points or 0.16% at 11084.40. About 978 shares have advanced, 1417 shares declined, and 141 shares are unchanged.

Gold Updates: Gold rose on Friday en route to its best month in nearly 4-1/2 years as the dollar slid further after dismal U.S. data added to doubts about a swift recovery from the pandemic-induced economic slump, driving investors towards the safe-haven metal.

Rupee closes higher: Indian rupee erased some of the intraday gains but ended higher at 74.81 per dollar, amid volatile trade seen in the domestic equity market. It opened 11 paise higher at 74.74 per dollar against Thursday's close of 74.85.