Mid-day market trade: Indices continue to trade higher; broader markets off fresh highs

Indian equities continued to trade higher led by across the board buying even as banking stocks faced pressure ahead of results by the banking major SBI due on August 3. Nifty at the last count traded higher by 0.3 per cent at 24,931.95, while the BSE 30-stock index traded higher by 0,22 per cent or 261.53 points at 81,716.93.  Meanwhile, the banking sector barometer saw some weakness.

Broader markets, however, outperformed the headline indices and last at the time of writing this copy Nifty Midcap index was up 0.68 per cent.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, "SEBI’s crackdown on F&O trade is eminently desirable and can go a long way towards making the ongoing rally healthy and less speculative. The irrational exuberance of the retail investors, particularly the newbies who entered market after the Covid crash, will do more harm than good to the overall market in the long run. Therefore, these regulatory measures are to be welcomed.

It is time for investors to take a long-term call on the market and moderate their expectations to realistic levels. At this juncture in the market safety is important. Chasing super normal returns from the broader market would be a risky game, he added.

Sectorally, after being in the positive territory, oil and gas and realty also succumbed to selling pressure, while media, pharma and metal pack came out strongly with gains of up to 1 per cent. Divyam Mour, Research Analyst, SAMCO Securities noted that the gains in the metal pack are driven by stronger-than-expected US GDP growth, which boosted investor confidence in global economic stability and demand for metals. Additionally, the People's Bank of China lowered the one-year medium-term loan rate, signaling supportive monetary policy and stimulating expectations of increased industrial activity in China, a major consumer of metals. 

Meanwhile, the European markets traded on a strong note, with FTSE index up over 1 per cent as the investors awaited the US Fed's next move. Also, the Bank of Japan raised its key interest rate on Wednesday to about 0.25 per cent from a range of zero to about 0.1 per cent, acting to curb the yen's slide against the US dollar.