Summary of this article
Sensex and Nifty opened lower as US-Iran tensions hurt investor sentiment
Oil prices climbed on fears of supply disruptions after US airstrikes
Pharma and IT gained, while auto, oil and gas, and banks fell
Stock Market Today: Benchmark equity indices opened lower on July 8 as investors turned cautious amid rising geopolitical tensions in West Asia. Sentiment weakened after the US carried out airstrikes against Iran following attacks on commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, raising fresh concerns over regional stability and the security of global oil supplies.
At 9:20 AM, the BSE Sensex was down by 354.60 points, or 0.45 per cent, at 77,826.12. Likewise, the NSE Nifty 50 traded lower by 115.30 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 24,283.40.
Broader market mirrored the overall cautious sentiment, with both the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 trading south of 0.30 per cent. The Nifty 500 index, which represents more than 92 per cent of the free-float market capitalisation of all NSE-listed stocks, was down by 0.51 per cent.
Sectoral performance remained broadly weak, with only Nifty Pharma, Nifty Healthcare, and Nifty IT trading in positive territory. Among the laggards, Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty Auto, and Nifty PSU Bank emerged as the worst performers, each declining over 1 per cent. Meanwhile, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Bank, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Financial Services, and Nifty Realty also traded lower, slipping more than 0.5 per cent.
Top Gainers And Losers In Nifty 50
Among the Nifty 50 stocks, IT services company Wipro, drugmakers Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Cipla and Sun Pharma, state-owned coal producer Coal India, oil and gas explorer ONGC, insurer SBI Life Insurance, IT major HCL Technologies and hospital chain Apollo Hospitals were the top gainers, lending support to the benchmark indices.
On the other hand, non-banking financial company Jio Financial Services, retail-focused lender Shriram Finance, paints maker Asian Paints, airline operator InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo, oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries, and motorcycle maker Eicher Motors were the biggest losers, with each declining more than 2 per cent.
Other major laggards included ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, Tata Consumer Products, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank and UltraTech Cement, all of which fell between 1 per cent and 2 per cent.
Crude Oil Prices Jumps After US Airstrikes
Crude oil prices continued to climb as concerns over supply disruptions intensified after the airstrikes. Brent crude futures rose 2.70 per cent to $76.16 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 2.68 per cent to $72.33 a barrel. The rally followed a sharp jump of up to 5.6 per cent in the previous session after Washington revoked the license that had allowed the sale of Iranian crude, raising fears of tighter global oil supplies.
How Global Markets Are Performing
Wall Street closed in the red overnight, dragged lower by a fresh sell-off in semiconductor stocks as investors questioned whether the artificial intelligence-led surge in chipmakers still has room to run. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 1.16 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 0.45 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.25 per cent lower after touching an all-time high earlier in the session.
The selling was led by chipmakers, including Micron Technology. Although Samsung Electronics reported earnings that beat estimates, the results failed to live up to the market's lofty expectations for AI-driven growth, triggering profit booking across semiconductor stocks.
Trading in Asia was mixed this morning as investors kept a close watch on developments in West Asia and the sharp rise in crude oil prices. South Korea's Kospi fell 3.42 per cent, Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.75 per cent, Taiwan's Taiex was down 0.15 per cent. On the other hand, the Hong Kong-based Hang Seng was up 2.38 per cent, and China's CSI 300 was up 0.61 per cent.
