Where is the market headed?
It was a tough day in the markets as the new 25% tariffs officially kicked in. These will apply from tomorrow morning in US time. India did try to negotiate and even involved an agency close to Trump, but that effort did not work. The US president has already signed an executive order, so the tariffs are now confirmed. Whether there will be a rollback later is not known. The only relief is that not all goods are included and services are untouched for now. Still, many sectors will face a heavy impact.
Market Overview
On the charts, Nifty looked extremely weak. The index fell like a knife and filled up most of the gap created five days ago. We may now look for fresh support around 24,300 or maybe at the same gap level, but it remains to be seen.
Nifty Next 50
Hopes were dashed as Nifty Junior also slipped by 1.35%.
Nifty Mid and Small Cap
Mid caps and small caps too closed in the red, with small caps falling 1.8%. A possible head and shoulders pattern is forming in small caps, which could mean more pain if levels around 16,250–16,300 break.
Bank Nifty
Bank Nifty is the weakest of all indices, hitting a new three-month low. This is worrying since Bank Nifty usually leads the market trend, and this time it is leading down.
GOLD
Gold saw some shine, rising 0.34% to 10,077 per gram, supported by a weakening rupee.
Advance Decline Ratio
Market breadth was even with 254 advances and 247 declines.
Heat Maps
But overall advance-decline numbers were poor. The heat map showed red everywhere, except for a few names like Maruti, Eicher Motors, Hindustan Unilever, and ITC. Most big names such as Sun Pharma, L&T, Reliance, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, and Mahindra were hit hard. In the Nifty Next 50, only Britannia, Hyundai, Swiggy, and Dmart held steady. Stocks like Siemens, Havel’s, Canara Bank, Adani, and Vedanta dropped sharply.
Movers Of The Day
Among movers of the day, Ola Electric stood out with a strong 4.6% rise on news of PLI certification, showing relative strength in an otherwise weak market. On the other hand, Sun Pharma fell 3.4% after Trump’s comments about pharma pricing, which spooked the sector.
Sectoral Overview
Sector-wise, almost everything ended lower except FMCG and MNCs, which managed small gains. Capital Market, d+Defense, and Real Estate stocks were the worst hit. Interestingly, these were the very sectors that had shown strong one-year returns, which suggests heavy profit booking.
Sector of the Day
Nifty Capital Market Index
Capital market stocks like Kfin, Angel, MCX, and BSE also fell to fresh lows versus June prices.
Nifty India Defence Index
Defense stocks like Garden Reach, Astra, BEML, DCX, and Paras slid to new lows compared to May levels.
Tweets Of the Day
To end on a thoughtful note, while visiting Lalbagh in Bengaluru, I came across a massive silk cotton tree with a huge base. It reminded me of how important a strong foundation is in investing. Just like that tree, our portfolio and asset allocation must be built in a way that it can withstand any storm – whether it is recession, tariffs, inflation, or FII selling. That is the only way long-term wealth can remain steady.
