Key Points

At 9.23 am, Sensex declined 290 points or 0.35 per cent at 81,894 and Nifty was down 110 points or 0.44 per cent at 24,943.

Auto stocks were leading the losses with a 0.70 per cent decline. FMCG stock and metal stocks were the other major losers. The Nifty Bank was down by 0.14 per cent at 56,983 points.

Broad cap indices fell more than the benchmark indices. BSE smallcap index was down 0.68 per cent and BSE midcap index fell 0.45 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, all indices except auto, media, metal, FMCG, oil and gas were flat.

Top gainers in the early session were SBI Life Insurance, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Bharat Electronics, NTPC, SBI and Apollo Hospitals. Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Jio Financial and TCS Titan were the major losers.

According to market watchers, the India-UK FTA will significantly boost trade between both countries, which will be seen as a positive by the market.

The fact that this FTA has come during a time of tariff wars is commendable, and hopefully this will improve India’s chances of striking a fair-trade deal with the US, said analysts.

Sectors that are expected to benefit from the FTA, such as textiles, leather, food processing, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and gems and jewellery, will be on the market radar.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.99 per cent, and South Korea's KOSPI Index was up 0.46 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index declined by 0.61 per cent. China was also in the red zone.

In the US markets, while the Dow Jones closed in red, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 were in the green zone.

On July 24, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers for the fifth consecutive session, selling equities worth Rs 2,134 crore. In contrast, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained strong buyers for the 12th straight day, buying equities worth Rs 2,617 crore.

—IANS

- IANS