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Market continues to trade below neutral lines in late afternoon deals
Jul-24-2026

Benchmarks continued to trade below the neutral lines in late afternoon session as India’s PMI data for July sparked caution among investors. India’s private sector activity in July witnessed the slowest pace of expansion since March 2022, amid intensified inflationary pressures. HSBC Flash India Services PMI Business Activity Index also fell to 53.1 in July from June’s final reading of 57.4. Further, persistent selling by the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) has weighed on market risk sentiments. FIIs were the net sellers on yesterday’s session, offloading securities worth Rs 2,999.23 crore. 

On the global front, all Asian equity markets were trading lower amid high crude oil prices and concerns over high valuations of AI-related stocks. European equity markets were trading higher after data showed services sector in Eurozone returned to expansion in July after a three-month contraction.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76087.40, down by 303.99 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 75474.43 and 76210.95. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.47%, FMCG up by 0.23% and Bankex up by 0.20%, while Telecom down by 1.61%, Auto down by 1.01%, Power down by 0.97%, Oil & Gas down by 0.75% and Consumer Discretionary down by 0.71% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 1.76%, ITC up by 1.00%, Trent up by 0.90%, Axis Bank up by 0.76% and TCS up by 0.52%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.40%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.25%, Infosys down by 2.17%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.06% and Eternal down by 1.71% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ratings agency ICRA in its latest report has said that India’s domestic air passenger traffic is likely to grow by 3-6 per cent in FY27. However, it has maintained a negative outlook on the country's aviation industry, citing profitability concerns and industry-wide challenges. It also expects Indian airlines' international passenger traffic to witness a modest 0-3 per cent increase during the fiscal. It said the moderation reflects the impact of instability in West Asia, which has increased airline operating costs, pushed up airfares and is likely to curb discretionary travel spending due to inflationary pressures. 

The agency cautioned that any prolonged continuation or further escalation of the West Asian conflict could further weigh on traffic growth, yields and profitability because of sustained high fuel prices, airspace restrictions and persistent inflation. It estimates the aviation industry will report a net loss of Rs 36,000-38,000 crore in FY27, compared with an estimated Rs 32,000-34,000 crore loss in FY26. The higher losses are expected to be driven by the depreciation of the Indian rupee against the US dollar, elevated Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices and rising lease rentals as airlines continue to induct new aircraft. 

It said the negative outlook reflects the expected weakening of the revenue per available seat kilometre - cost per available seat kilometre (RASK-CASK) spread due to hardening of jet fuel prices and disruptions in the availability of certain international airspaces starting February 28, 2026, following escalation of the conflict in West Asia, coupled with continued depreciation of the Indian Rupee against the US Dollar. Further, flight cancellations amid airspace closures have impacted international air travel demand, with some of the carriers having already announced curtailment of international flights in the coming few months. The onset of the hostilities in West Asia since end-February 2026 is expected to result in subdued air passenger traffic growth in FY2027, it said.

On fuel costs, ICRA noted that Jet fuel or Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices in July remained unchanged for both domestic and international routes on a sequential basis, with the prices announced on July 1 kept unchanged for both domestic and international routes vis-A -vis June 2026 prices. Domestic ATF prices have been unchanged since April 2026, in the absence of any price revisions by oil marketing companies (OMCs) during the period. However, the prices for domestic routes in July are still higher by 18 per cent on a year-on-year basis while for international operations, the ATF prices in the current month remained unchanged on a sequential basis.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23772.35, down by 97.25 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 23606.30 and 23823.60. There were 17 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 2.07%, Wipro up by 1.56%, Cipla up by 1.36%, ITC up by 1.03% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.74%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.76%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.44%, Eternal down by 2.33%, Shriram Finance down by 2.28% and Tata Consumer Products down by 2.00% were the top losers.

All Asian equity markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 1991.6 points or 3.09% to 64,431.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 1195.97 points or 2.74% to 43,654.84, Hang Seng declined 260.81 points or 1.05% to 24,950.00, Jakarta Composite plunged 145.62 points or 2.36% to 6,169.69, Shanghai Composite weakened 62.58 points or 1.64% to 3,814.20, Straits Times fell 1.96 points or 0.04% to 5,579.80 and KOSPI dropped 406.27 points or 6.07% to 6,690.62.

European equity markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 44.26 points or 0.41% to 10,683.43, France’s CAC rose 29.31 points or 0.35% to 8,328.40 and Germany’s DAX gained 201.78 points or 0.81% to 24,964.90.
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