Markets fall at open after record rally

Major equity indices fell early on July 5 due to profit-taking after record gains in the past few trading sessions and selling of blue chip stocks HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.

The 30-stock BSE Sensex fell 504.27 points to 79,545.40, while the NSE Nifty slumped 105.30 points to 24,196.85.

Of the 30 companies that make up the Sensex index, HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major laggards.

Among the stocks that gained were Sun Pharmaceuticals, JSW Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, Infosys and Tech Mahindra.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Thursday as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,575.85 crore in the capital market, according to exchange data.

“Large foreign institutional buying positions in index derivatives and strong buying in the spot market could support the market in the short term. A key catalyst could be the US employment report due to be released on Friday.”

“If the jobs data points to an easing in the labor market and a slowdown in the economy, it could lead to a rate cut by the Fed in September,” said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul rose while Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong fell.

“Most Asia-Pacific markets fell on the back of a lack of data from the US as investors eagerly await non-farm payrolls data due later on Friday,” said Avdat Bagkar, technical derivatives analyst at Stoxxbox.

US markets were closed on Thursday for Independence Day.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.37% to $87.11 a barrel.

On Thursday, the 30-stock BSE Sensex index hit an intraday record high of 80,392.64 during early trading. The index subsequently rose 62.87 points or 0.08 percent to close at a record high of 80,049.67.

The broader Nifty index also closed little changed after hitting an intraday high of 24,401 in opening trade. The 50-stock index rose 15.65 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at a record high of 24,302.15.