Sensex down 800 pts, Nifty below 24,400 as Trump tariffs weigh; metal, auto, IT stocks lead decline

With market sentiment weighed down by tariff tensions between India and the US, FIIs are expected to keep trimming their cash market exposure.

Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex slipped back into the red on August 8, snapping the previous day’s relief rally, as lingering tariff worries dampened sentiment. Losses were broad-based, with autos, metals, IT and pharma leading the decline.

At close, the Sensex was down 765.47 points or 0.95 percent at 79,857.79, and the Nifty was down 232.85 points or 0.95 percent at 24,363.30. About 1494 shares advanced, 2380 shares declined, and 137 shares were unchanged.

Also read: SBI Q1 results: Net profit rises 12% to Rs 19,160 crore, beats estimates

Stretched valuations in Indian equities are prompting persistent selling by foreign investors, who have been net sellers on every trading day so far in August, offloading a total of Rs 15,950 crore in the cash market. Thursday’s sharp 250-point rebound in the Nifty from its intraday low was largely driven by short covering, sparked by strong domestic institutional investor (DII) purchases worth Rs 10,864 crore.

With market sentiment weighed down by tariff tensions between India and the US, FIIs are expected to keep trimming their cash market exposure. However, robust DII inflows, backed by steady mutual fund investments, are helping cushion the market and could prevent a deeper sell-off, V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

Sectoral indices on the NSE were largely in the red, with realty (-1.93%), metal (-1.71%), consumer durables (-1.64%), and midcaps (-1.49%) seeing the sharpest losses. Auto, pharma, infrastructure, private banks, and IT stocks also weighed on sentiment, while PSU banks and media ended only marginally lower. The Nifty Bank fell 0.78 percent, while FMCG and energy slipped 0.72 percent and 0.53 percent, respectively. Oil & gas was the sole gainer, inching up 0.06 percent. Volatility picked up, with India VIX rising 2.05 percent to 11.93.

Among individual stocks, Coforge slipped 6 percent to Rs 1,605 in the afternoon on August 8, sinking for the third time in four sessions and wiping over 10 percent in just four days, after key client Sabre Corp plunged 35 percent on the Nasdaq overnight following a lacklustre quarterly report. Sabre’s revenue and EBITDA for the current quarter came in below earlier projections.

Read more: Tata Capital kicks off investor roadshows for Rs 17,000-crore IPO

Shares of National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL) the recently listed depository service provider, have surged another 18 percent on August 8, extending their gains for the third consecutive session after listing. With this move, the stock has now risen 67 percent from its IPO price in just three trading sessions.

Tata Motors slipped over a percent, marking its third straight day of losses, as investors turned cautious ahead of the automaker’s Q1 results later today, with analysts bracing for a sharp decline in profit and revenue. According to a Moneycontrol poll of six brokerage firms, the Nexon maker is anticipated to record an 8.7 percent year-on-year decrease in revenue, reaching Rs 98,600 crore.

Technical View

"Immediate support lies at 24,450, aligning with a previous demand zone. Unless breached decisively, any dip is likely to attract fresh buying interest. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the daily chart hovers around 40 but has started showing a positive divergence, hinting at easing bearish momentum. Intraday indicators also signal a reversal from oversold territory. The overall structure remains oversold, suggesting that any pullbacks may offer opportunities to initiate fresh long positions as optimism gradually returns," Dhupesh Dhameja of SAMCO Securities said.

Titan Company, NTPC, HDFC Life, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, and Coal India were the top gainers on the Nifty. Laggards on the Nifty included Adani Enterprises, Bharti Airtel, Shriram Finance, IndusInd Bank, and Hindalco.