Key equity benchmarks open lower; Nifty slides below 25,000 mark

The domestic equity benchmarks opened lower and traded with limited losses in early trade. The Nifty traded below the 25,000 level. Financials, pharma and metal stocks declined while pharma, PSU banks and realty stocks managed to trade in the green.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 201.81 points or 0.25% to 81,982.36. The Nifty 50 index lost 84.55 points or 0.34% to 24,977.55.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.09% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.37%.

The market breadth, however, was positive. On the BSE, 1,183 shares rose and 1,681, shares fell. A total of 119 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Anant Raj jumped 6.34%. The companys consolidated net profit climbed 38.3% to Rs 125.88 crore on 25.6% jump in net sales to Rs 59241 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25.

Indian Energy Exchange zoomed 11.33%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 25.2% to Rs 120.70 crore on 14.7% increase in net sales to Rs 141.75 crore in Q1 FY25 over Q1 FY26.

Global Markets:

Asian markets came off their early highs on Friday, with Japanese markets retreating from a record peak, as investors locked in profits ahead of a crucial week that includes US President Donald Trump's tariff deadline and a host of central bank meetings.

Mixed inflation data, however, dampened the sentiment for Japanese investors. Tokyo consumer inflation data for July showed a slightly bigger-than-widely anticipated easing in prices. But core inflation still remained above the Bank of Japans 2% annual target, keeping uncertainty over the central banks rate hikes largely in play.

Focus now is on Chinas Politburo meeting, a convening of top political leaders, for more cues on the Chinese economy. The meeting was supposed to be convened in late-July.

US stocks were mixed on Thursday, with the S&P 500 notching its fourth record close in a row as tech earnings from Alphabet pointed to AI as a key growth catalyst.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to also close at a fresh record, while the S&P 500 ended up just 0.1% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6% amid a post-earnings slide in IBM (IBM) shares.

Alphabet beat widely reported markets second quarter earnings expectations and doubled down on its AI spending spree. The Google parent's shares rose alongside other AI-linked stocks such as Nvidia, helping buoy the tech-focused gauges.

Tesla's stock sank after an earnings miss, a continued slump in European sales, and a warning from CEO Elon Musk that the EV maker faced "rough quarters" as President Trump's budget bill kills off tax credits.

Optimism around trade deals remained strong after the US-Japan agreement helped push the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to new record highs on Wednesday. Meanwhile, media reports indicated that the US and EU are nearing a deal to impose a 15% tariff on most European importssignificantly lower than the previously threatened 30%.

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