Sensex, Nifty likely to begin session in negative sphere; GIFT Nifty futures dip 200 pts

Stock Market Today, August 2, 2024: Headline indices, Sensex and Nifty will likely start today's (August 2, 2024) session in the negative sphere. At around 7:00 am, GIFT Nifty futures, an early indicator of the 50-share index, fell 200 points or 0.80 per cent at 24,832 ahead of the opening bell on Dalal Street.

Here's what global trends indicate:

US Stock Markets

In US Markets, all major indices were in the negative territory after US jobs and PMI data was released, here's a look at the major indices:

• Nasdaq down by over 400 points or 2.30 per cent
• Dow Jones futures down 137 points or 0.34 per cent
• S&P 500 slipped by 75 points or 1.37 per cent

Asian Stock Markets

Similarly, in Asian markets, indexes are in the red zone, here's the look:

• Nikkei 225 dipped 1,683 points or 4,42 per cent
• Hand Seng down over 250 points or 1.50 per cent
• KOSPI  slipped almost 80 points or 2.87

According to Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, a fresh dose of weak economic data led traders to reconsider whether Jerome Powell’s Federal Reserve is wise to hold off cutting interest rates before September. "U.S. stocks saw huge intraday swings on Thursday. According to one metric, it was the market's most volatile day since November 2022. The Nasdaq 100 saw its biggest one-day reversal since May 2022." Jasani said.

"Gross GST collections in India rose 10.3 percent to a three-month high of Rs 1.82 lakh crore compared with Rs 1.74 lakh crore in the previous month. Manufacturing expansion eased at 58.1 in July compared to 58.3 in the previous month," Deepak added.

India's July rain recorded at 9 per cent above normal with significant rainfall deficits in some areas despite an overall surplus in precipitation. Meanwhile, IMD on Thursday, August 1, 2024, said rainfall over the country in August and September is likely to be above normal

On the previous day, both domestic indices scaled fresh closing highs, Nifty rose 0.24 per cent to 59.75 pts to 25,010.90, by hitting levels of 25,000 for the first time. Meanwhile, Sensex climbed 126.21 pts or 0.15 per cent to 81,867.55.

What to track today?

Several companies stocks are to be in focus during the last trading session of the week, including ITC, Britannia, Maruti Suzuki India, Cipla, and Coforge.

• ITC Stock: FMCG company -  cigarettes-to-hotels conglomerate - has reported a standalone net profit of Rs 4,917 crore for the April-June period with margin of 37 per cent. Zee Business analysts had pegged the cigarette maker's quarterly net profit of Rs 5,020 crore and margin at 38 per cent. 
• April-June Earnings: Several companies are scheduled to report their Q1 numbers today such as Titan, Britannia, LIC Housing Finance, Zydus Wellness, and Delhivery.
• Corporate actions: Many companies set to deliver the final dividend to their investors, including Cipla, Jubilant FoodWorks, Cello, others.