At noon on Friday, markets remained under pressure, extending the previous session’s selloff. The Sensex slipped 633 points to hover around 81,551, while the Nifty shed nearly 218 points to trade at 24,844.
After the first hour of Friday’s trade, the Indian stock market remained under pressure, extending losses from the previous session. The Sensex slipped over 580 points to hover around 81,602, while the Nifty dropped nearly 198 points to trade near 24,864. Moreover, the Nifty Bank index is trading in the red with a loss of over 350 points at 56,714.
The major laggards at this hour include Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid, Eternal, Infosys, among other stocks.
Indian stock markets started Friday’s session on a cautious note, extending losses from the previous day. The benchmark Sensex opened at 81,846.45, slipping 0.41%, while the Nifty began the session at 24,951.95, down 0.44%. Pressure also extended to the banking space, with the Nifty Bank index opening at 56,986, a decline of 0.14%.
After Thursday’s steep selloff, traders woke up to another day of jitters. The market mood appears to be tilted towards caution, with several key factors weighing on sentiment.
“After Thursday’s sharp selloff, it seems the bears have regained control of Dalal Street. Nifty remains vulnerable below the key 25300 hurdle, with major support at 24881 – any close below this could invite further downside. Sentiment is weighed down by five key negatives: overbought technicals, FII outflows (Rs 28,307 crore in July), profit booking, weak Q1 earnings, and uncertainty over US-India trade talks. Sectoral pain was sharpest in IT and FMCG, with INFY, Coforge, and Nestle dragging,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities
Let’s take a look at the key factors to watch today-
Who’s gaining early?
A few heavyweights are holding up well. Asian Paints, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Maruti were among the early gainers.
Draggers of the day
On the flip side, selling pressure continued in stocks like Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Power Grid, and Eternal, which emerged as the top laggards in early trade.
Q1 earnings radar
The earnings season continues to be a key market driver. Today, 85 companies are scheduled to release their Q1FY26 results. Big names to watch include Bajaj Finserv, Bank of Baroda, Cipla, Shriram Finance, SBI Cards, SAIL.
Asia opens muted
Asian markets mirrored the caution seen on Dalal Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.24%, while the Topix lost 0.55%. South Korea’s Kospi was flat, and the Kosdaq slipped 0.48%. Australia’s ASX 200 traded 0.41% lower.
Stocks in spotlight
With earnings announcements, institutional activity, and global cues shaping today’s narrative, here are some key stocks expected to remain in focus – Bajaj Finance, Karur Vysya Bank, Adani Enterprises, IEX, KFin Technologies, Phoenix Mills, Bharat Electronics, Wipro, Sun Pharma, among others.