Barometers trade with major losses; metal shares lose sheen

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with significant losses in the early-afternoon trade, dragged down by weakness in auto, media and metal shares.

The Nifty traded below the 24,850 mark. Metal shares declined after advancing in the past two consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tanked 672.42 points or 0.81% to 81,514.44. The Nifty 50 index declined 222.05 points or 0.89% to 24,840.35.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.37% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index tanked 1.71%.

The overall market breadth was weak, with more stocks declining than advancing. On the BSE, 1,011 stocks advanced, 2,827 declined, and 164 remained unchanged.

Economy:

India and the United Kingdom have signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), marking a major step toward strengthening bilateral economic ties. The agreement was signed by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds, in the presence of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Rishi Sunak.

This milestone reflects a shared commitment to deeper economic integration between two major global economies. India-UK bilateral trade stands at nearly USD 56 billion, with a target to double it by 2030.

CETA grants duty-free access for 99% of India?s exports to the UK, benefitting labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, marine products, footwear, sports goods, toys, and gems & jewellery, along with high-growth sectors like engineering goods, auto components, and organic chemicals.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 7.67% to 11.55. The Nifty 31 July 2025 futures were trading at 24,844.40 at a premium of 4.05 points as compared with the spot at 24,840.35.

The Nifty option chain for the 31 July 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 166.6 lakh contracts at the 25,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 79.2 lakh contracts was seen at 24,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index dropped 1.58% to 9,430.70. The index rose 0.51% in the past two consective trading sessions.

APL Apollo Tubes (down 5.60%), Steel Authority of India (down 4.24%), Hindustan Copper (down 3.58%), National Aluminium Company (down 2.22%), Adani Enterprises (down 1.90%), Hindustan Zinc (down 1.67%), Vedanta (down 1.57%), NMDC (down 1.37%), Jindal Stainless (down 1.29%) and Tata Steel (down 1.13%) declined.

On the other hand, Tata Consumer Products (up 0.93%) and United Breweries (up 0.43%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Avantel tumbled 7.03% after the company?s consolidated net profit tanked 56.23% to Rs 3.23 crore in Q1 FY26, compared with 7.38 crore in Q1 FY25. However, revenue from operations marginally increased by 0.29% year on year to Rs 51.91 crore in Q1 FY26.

Tanla Platforms dropped 3.76% after the company?s consolidated net profit tanked 16.15% to Rs 118.41 crore in Q1 FY26, compared with 141.22 crore in Q1 FY25. However, revenue from operations rose 3.84% year on year to Rs 1,040.66 crore in Q1 FY26.

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