Stock market today: Sensex, Nifty 50 slip marginally amid cautious trade, eyes on earnings & US trade talks
The domestic market staged volatility following a muted opening on Wednesday. Taking cues from the significant decline in June retail inflation, the benchmark indices ended in positive territory on Tuesday after a four-day losing streak. Market experts believe that investors would adopt a cautious wait-and-watch approach amid the volatility.
They await key corporate earnings and progress in trade talks with the US. A sustained rally in the market need earnings support, underlined Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.
“There are no signs of a strong earnings support and earnings growth visibility. Two big segments of the market — IT services and consumption, particularly FMCG — are struggling with tepid earnings. There are green shoots of earnings recovery in FMCG but IT services continue to struggle. This means earnings growth for FY26 will be around 10 per cent only. This is the biggest challenge being faced by the market now,” Vijayakumar added.
He advised investors to focus on stocks where growth prospects and earnings visibility are bright.
“Booking partial profits on rallies and employing tight trailing stop-losses is recommended,” Aakash Shah, Technical Research Analyst – Research at Choice Equity Broking Private Limited, said. Shah added that fresh long positions can be considered only if Nifty sustains above the 25250 mark.
Overall, sentiment remains cautiously bullish, and traders should keep a close eye on key technical levels and evolving global cues.
Sensex declined 131.53 pts or 0.16 per cent to 82,439.38 as at 9.52 am after a muted opening at 82,534.66 against the previous close of 82,570.91. Nifty 50 dipped 45.20 pts or 0.18 per cent to 25,150.60.
On the technical front, Vaishali Parekh, Vice President – Technical Research, PL Capital, said, “Volatility shall continue for the month, and, on the upside, as mentioned earlier, only a decisive breach above the 25650 zone shall trigger a fresh upward trend in the coming days.”
Both midcap and smallcap indexes fluctuated. Meanwhile, sectoral indices staged a mixed performance in early trade. Media and PSU Bank traded with marginal gains, while auto, metal and consumer durables depreciated the most.
BankNifty would have the daily range of 56600-57700 levels, Parekh added.
Top gainers & losers
Shares of HDFC Life, Trent, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports and Adani Enterprises traded with marginal gains among the Nifty 50 pack, while Shriram Finance, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and M&M traded as major laggards.
ICICI Prudential and HDB Financial shares traded in negative range following Q1 results, while ICICI Lombard and HDFC Life were in green. In addition, shares of Bank of Maharashtra, Just Dial and more will also be in focus. Tech Mahindra, LTTS, Reliance Industrial Infra and Kalpataru are among key companies set to announce Q1 results today. Catch live action
HDFC Bank shares traded in green. The board to consider bonus issue at its meeting on July 19.
On the BSE, Network 18, Coffee Day, Waaree Renewables, KRBL traded with a 5-10 per cent rally. While, Gabriel, Neuland, JP Power, Ola Electric and Elecon shares depreciated 3-8 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices edged higher following a two-day decline, as traders evaluated signs of short-term market resilience ahead of the US inventory data. Gold slipped on Tuesday as investors were cautious ahead of potential tariff announcements, even as inflation figures confirmed a widely anticipated rise in US consumer prices last month.
On Tuesday, Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 436 points, or 0.98 per cent as investor sentiment was dampened by persistent inflation concerns in the US and mixed earnings reports from leading banks.
Asian markets also traded in red.
Sensex ended 317.45 pts or 0.39 per cent higher on Tuesday at 82,570.91, and Nifty 50 rose 113.50 pts or 0.45 per cent to 25,195.80. FIIs bought equities worth ₹120.47 crore.
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Published on July 16, 2025
