Nifty trades below 24,000 level; FMCG shares slide

The key equity benchmarks traded with minor losses in the mid-afternoon trade, as investors remained cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision and continued to assess the ongoing corporate earnings season. Trading remained volatile due to the monthly expiry of Nifty 50 derivatives contracts, leading to heightened intraday swings. Meanwhile, FMCG stocks declined after advancing in the past two consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 81.57 points or 0.11% to 76,754.21. The Nifty 50 index lost 21.55 points or 0.09% to 23,974.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index slipped 0.17% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index dropped 0.63%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,574 shares rose and 2,585 shares fell. A total of 203 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index climbed 1.34% to 48,900.55. The index rose 1.08% in the past two consecutive trading sessions.

Varun Beverages (down 7.10%), Hindustan Unilever (down 6.24%), Tata Consumer Products (down 2.17%), Emami (down 1.77%), Patanjali Foods (down 1.1%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 0.89%), Dabur India (down 0.55%) and ITC (down 0.44%) declined.

On the other hand, Nestle India (up 3.71%), Marico (up 2.10%) and Britannia Industries (up 1.90%) edged higher.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was down 0.10% to 6.766 as compared with previous close 6.773.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 95.8300 compared with its close of 95.9900 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2026 settlement dropped 0.72% to Rs 1,42,029.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.04% to 101.345.

The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.60% to 4.613.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for September 2026 settlement slumped $3.28 or 3.71% to $85.08 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Chemicals fell 3.76% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 17 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2026 (Q1 FY27), compared with a net profit of Rs 525 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations increased 14.41% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 4,255 crore during the quarter, driven by higher sales volumes that offset lower realizations.

Tejas Networks tumbled 3.98% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 202.24 crore in Q1 FY27, compared with a net loss of Rs 193.87 crore posted in Q1 FY26. However, the company?s total revenue from operations jumped 99.10% to Rs 402.16 crore in Q1 FY27 as against Rs 201.98 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Hindustan Unilever tumbled 6.24% after the FMCG major reported a 3.01% year-on-year (YoY) decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,673 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2026 (Q1 FY27), compared with Rs 2,756 crore in Q1 FY26. Revenue from operations jumped 10.3% YoY to Rs 17,184 crore in Q1 FY27.

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