M&M, bank stocks halt D-Street's record run! Sensex tanks 800 points, Nifty below 24,200

However, the BSE Sensex was trading over 800 points lower at 79,543.79, while the Nifty50 was down 250 points, trading below 24,200 around 10:45 am.

Markets fell after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell offered little hint on the timing of interest rate cuts in the world's largest economy. Powell told the U.S. Congress that he did not want "to be sending any signals about the timing of any future actions" on interest rates.

The probability of a 25 basis point Fed rate cut in September eased marginally to 73% from 77% a day ago, but expectations of 50 bps cuts in 2024 remain intact, according to CME FedWatch Tool.

Among Sensex stocks, M&M was the top laggard, falling over 4% in early trade. , , , , and also opened with losses. Conversely, Maruti, , , , and Titan opened with gains.

Meanwhile, fell 0.5% in early trade after BofA downgraded the largest private lender to 'Neutral' from 'Buy'.

On the sectoral front, Nifty Bank fell 0.5%, and Nifty Auto declined 0.3%. Nifty Financial Services, Media, Metal, Pharma, and Healthcare also opened in the red. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap100 and Smallcap100 opened flat.

Among individual stocks, fell nearly 4% after the company reported a 34% drop in its standalone net profit to Rs 40.48 crore for the first quarter ended June 2024, compared to Rs 61.43 crore in the same period last year.

shares jumped 10% after the firm received Letter of Acceptance (LoA) for a project worth Rs 187.34 crore from Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Nagpur Metro).

Experts View
"Two important factors that have been contributing to the ongoing bull market in India are the global rally and the sustained flows into the Indian market from retail investors. The flows into the market from retail investors continue unabated with SIP inflows touching Rs 21,262 crores in June. These positive trends can impart resilience to the market even though valuation comfort is low now," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, .

"However investors should be careful about the high level of speculative activity in the Smallcap space where operators are driving up the prices of many shares with low floating stock," Vijayakumar added.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, "Nifty can find support at 24,350 followed by 24,300 and 24,200. On the higher side, 24,500 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 24,600 and 24,650."

Global Markets
Stocks have rallied globally on the back of growing expectations of a Fed easing cycle likely to commence in September, with Powell saying on Tuesday that the U.S. is "no longer an overheated economy". However, Powell provided little clues on how soon those rate cuts could come.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.09% and remained close to the more than two-year high hit at the start of the week. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.13%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed about 1%.

FII/DII Tracker
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying as they bought equities worth Rs 314 crore on July 9, while domestic institutional investors also bought equities worth Rs 1416 crore on same day.

Crude Oil
Oil prices rebounded on Wednesday following three days of declines after an industry report showed U.S. crude and fuel stockpiles fell last week, indicating steady demand, and the outlook for interest rate cuts improved.

Brent futures rose 21 cents to $84.87 a barrel, after falling 1.3% in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 26 cents to $81.67 a barrel, after falling 1.1% in the previous session.

Currency Watch
The Indian traded flat at 83.49 in early trade on Wednesday. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, declined 0.03% to 105.1 level.

(With inputs from agencies)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)