Indian equity markets finished slightly lower on Tuesday, with both the Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex slipping 0.13% by the close. Sectoral weakness in Capital Goods, Real Estate and Power was the primary downward pressure during the session, while several IT stocks provided some offsetting gains.
Session leaders and laggards
On the National Stock Exchange, HCL Technologies Ltd (NSE:HCLT) led the gainers, advancing 3.16% - a 35.80-point rise to close at 1,170.00. Tech Mahindra Ltd (NSE:TEML) added 2.88% or 40.50 points to finish at 1,447.00, and Infosys Ltd (NSE:INFY) rose 2.81% or 29.30 points to end at 1,071.50.
At the other end of the Nifty leaderboard, Trent Ltd (NSE:TREN) fell sharply, down 12.64% or 422.80 points to close at 2,921.00. Adani Enterprises Ltd (NSE:ADEL) declined 3.05% or 97.70 points to 3,108.90, while Bharat Electronics Ltd (NSE:BAJE) slipped 2.01% or 8.55 points to close at 417.00.
BSE movers
On the BSE Sensex 30, the top performers mirrored the NSE list: HCL Technologies Ltd (BO:HCLT) gained 3.08% to 1,169.00, Tech Mahindra Ltd (BO:TEML) was up 2.81% to settle at 1,445.35, and Infosys Ltd (BO:INFY) added 2.74% to close at 1,071.00.
The weakest BSE names included Adani Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd (BO:APSE), down 1.63% to 1,833.60, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd (BO:TAMO), which lost 1.44% to settle at 341.95, and Larsen & Toubro Ltd (BO:LART), down 1.26% to 3,988.70 at the close.
Breadth, volatility and market internals
Decliners outnumbered advancers on the National Stock Exchange by 1,641 to 870, with 59 stocks unchanged. On the Bombay Stock Exchange, 2,482 stocks fell while 1,481 advanced and 151 ended unchanged. The India VIX, a measure of implied volatility for Nifty 50 options, eased 0.51% to 11.76, marking a new three-month low for that gauge.
Commodities and currency moves
Across commodities, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.49% or 20.44 to $4,147.06 a troy ounce. Crude oil for August delivery rose 0.85% or 0.58 to $69.13 a barrel, while the September Brent contract increased 1.01% or 0.73 to trade at $72.72 a barrel.
In currency markets, the INR strengthened against the dollar and euro on the day. USD/INR was down 0.43% to 94.98, while EUR/INR fell 0.54% to 108.55. The US Dollar Index Futures was higher by 0.10% at 100.72.
What this session shows
The session was characterized by selective strength among large-cap IT names and more widespread weakness across capital-intensive and real estate-related names. Market breadth favored sellers, though implied volatility softened, reaching the lowest level observed in three months for India VIX. Commodity prices and currency moves were uneven, with crude and Brent rising while gold eased and the rupee strengthened against major currencies.
Data points and closing levels quoted above reflect end-of-day values for the trading session in question.