Market Wrap

Indian equity markets ended lower on 24 July 2025, extending their recent weakness as the benchmark index opened with a gap-down below a crucial support level and failed to sustain its early recovery. Selling pressure intensified during the second half of the session, pulling the benchmark down more than 0.53% to close just above the 23,860 mark.

Market sentiment remained cautious amid persistent selling and weak global cues. However, the Auto sector emerged as a notable outperformer for the second consecutive session, reflecting selective buying interest in fundamentally strong companies despite the broader market weakness.

Globally, investors maintained a risk-off stance, with most Asian and European markets trading lower due to concerns over global economic growth, ongoing trade negotiations, and uncertainty surrounding upcoming central bank policy decisions. Corporate earnings continued to drive stock-specific action, as companies reporting strong quarterly performance attracted buying interest, while disappointing results faced sharp selling pressure. Although recent progress in U.S. trade negotiations has improved investor sentiment to some extent, concerns over tariffs, global growth, and cautious foreign institutional investor (FII) positioning continued to weigh on domestic equities.

What's Ahead

Market participants will closely track the ongoing Q1 earnings season, with management commentary on demand trends, margins, and future growth expected to influence sectoral and stock-specific performance. Investors will also monitor key global macroeconomic data, developments in U.S. trade policy, and expectations surrounding the U.S. Federal Reserve's next monetary policy decision. While supportive earnings and improving global sentiment could trigger selective buying, elevated volatility is likely to persist until greater clarity emerges on both domestic corporate performance and the global economic outlook.

Market Snapshots

Institutional Activity

Sectoral Performance

Technical Outlook

Nifty 50

Nifty ended 0.53% lower at 23,869.60, forming a Doji candle on the daily chart, reflecting indecision after a volatile trading session. The index continues to trade below its 20-day, 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), highlighting a weak technical structure and maintaining the broader bearish bias. Momentum indicators also remain subdued, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) slipping to 45.36, while India VIX rose to 13.47, indicating a modest increase in market volatility. On the derivatives front, the Put-Call Ratio (PCR) at 0.68 suggests a cautious undertone, with the highest Put Open Interest at the 23,800 strike and the highest Call Open Interest at 24,000. Technically, 23,700–23,750 remains the immediate support zone, while 23,950–24,000 is expected to act as the first major resistance. Unless Nifty decisively reclaims the resistance zone, the index is likely to remain range-bound with a sideways-to-bearish bias in the near term.

BankNifty

Bank Nifty declined 0.94% to close at 56,592, extending its corrective phase after failing to sustain gains near the 56,930 level. The index witnessed persistent selling pressure throughout the session before finding support around 56,400, where buying interest helped trim losses. Despite the late recovery, the overall price structure continues to indicate that sellers remain in control, with buying activity largely confined to lower levels. Technically, the index is expected to trade within a 56,100–57,000 range, with 56,100–56,200 acting as the immediate support zone and 56,900–57,000 serving as the key resistance area. A sustained move above the resistance band could improve short-term sentiment, while a breakdown below support may trigger another round of corrective selling. Until a decisive breakout occurs, the broader outlook remains sideways to bearish.

Sensex

The BSE Sensex remained under pressure after a gap-down opening and continued selling throughout the session, reinforcing the prevailing weak market structure. The index continues to trade below its 20-day and 50-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), indicating that short-term momentum remains in favour of the bears. Weakness in banking and financial stocks, coupled with concerns over elevated crude oil prices and cautious sentiment ahead of quarterly earnings, continued to weigh on the benchmark. From a technical perspective, 75,600–75,700 remains a crucial support zone, while 76,900–77,000 is expected to act as the immediate resistance. A decisive close above the resistance band would be required to improve market sentiment, whereas a break below support could accelerate the ongoing correction. Until then, the index is likely to remain within the 75,600–77,000 range with a sideways-to-bearish bias.