FINAL TRADE: Market slips for 2nd straight day; Sensex closes at 66,385; Nifty settles at 19,672

Stock market today: The domestic benchmark indices on Monday (July 24) closed lower for the second trading session. The Nifty FMCG dragged the headline indices down. At close, the 30-share index of the BSE stood at 66,379.39, down 299.48 points, or 0.45 per cent while the NSE's Nifty closed at 19,672.35, down 72.67 points, or 0.37 per cent. Major stocks that dragged the headline indices were ITC, Britannia, and Tech Mahindra. 

"The Nifty opened on a flat note and traded with a negative bias to close in the red down ~73 points. On the daily charts, we can observe that the Nifty is retracing the rise from 19303 – 19992. Currently, it is around the 50% Fibonacci retracement level and is expected to attract buying interest. The daily momentum indicator has triggered a negative crossover which is a sell signal. Both price and momentum indicators are indicating weakness. However, we are still of the opinion that this is a dip that should be bought into as the overall uptrend is still intact. In terms of levels, 19600 – 19580 shall act as a crucial support zone, and on the upside 19800 - 19840 shall act as an immediate hurdle zone," said Jatin Gedia – Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Broader market 

Nifty Midcap 100 closed in the red down by 0.15 per cent at 36,742.6 and Smallcap 100 was trading in green up by 0.37 per cent at 11,571.9. 

Sectoral watch 

Nifty Bank closed lower by 0.33 per cent at 45,923.05 followed by Nifty Financial Services, Metal, FMCG, and Oil & Gas, whereas Nifty Realty, Healthcare, and Auto ended in the positive territory. Nifty IT closed flat.

"Bank Nifty closed in the red today. It witnessed selling pressure from around 46200 levels and drifted lower. We believe that Bank Nifty is in the process of retracing the rise it has witnessed from 44547 – 46370. On the downside, it can slip towards 45750 - 45670 where support is in the form of the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level and the 40-hour moving average is placed. Overall, the trend is still positive and once this consolidation is complete, we can expect the Bank Nifty to resume its uptrend. On the upside 46500 is the expected target," said Gedia.

Buzzing stocks 

Aarti Drugs shares closed over 18 per cent higher after the board approved the buyback. SJVN shares settled over 14 per cent higher after the company received the letter of Intent (LOI) from Punjab State Power Corporation Limited for the procurement of 1200 MW of Solar Power. REC shares ended nearly 7 per cent higher after the company announced to finance Rs 50,000 crore to SJVN. Power Finance Company's share settled over 5 per cent higher after PFC announced to finance of Rs 2.37 lakh crore to 20 clean energy companies. 

Conversely, Tejas Networks shares closed over 8 per cent lower after the company posted a consolidated net loss in the June quarter. United Spirits ended over 5 per cent lower and Biocon ended over 5 per cent lower after US FDA issued 8 observations for Biocon Sdn Bhd in Malaysia. 

Global markets 

Asia, equity markets were mixed with Nikkei gaining 1.23 per cent, while Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite declined by 2.13 per cent and 0.11 per cent, respectively. Europe markets were also trading mixed. German benchmark DAX was up 0.08 per cent while London's FTSE 100 gained 0.06 per cent. The CAC 40 of France was off 0.18 per cent. The US markets ended higher on Friday with S&P 500 gaining 0.03 per cent.

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