Stock market today: Sensex plunges 250 pts, Nifty below 25,050; Axis Bank down, Wipro up

Benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50, opened on a muted note on Friday, continuing their rangebound movement amid a lack of directional cues. 

At 9:45 AM, the BSE Sensex was trading at 82,005.72, down 253.52 points or 0.31 per cent. The NSE Nifty50 fell 75.80 points, or 0.30 per cent, to trade at 25,035.65. 

In July, India has underperformed most markets, with the NSE benchmark down 1.6 per cent. A significant contributor to the decline is the selling by FIIs, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited. He said there is a clear pattern in FPI activity this year so far, as they were net sellers in the first three months and for the next three months, they turned buyers. 

“And in the seventh month the trends so far indicate further selling unless some positive news reverses the downtrend in the market. Along with selling in the cash market, FPIs have been increasing short positions in the derivatives market too, which reflect a bearish outlook. Elevated valuations in India and cheaper valuations in other markets will continue to influence FII activity,” Vijayakumar said.

Axis Bank fell 4.30 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel (1.31 per cent), Kotak Mahindra Bank (0.84 per cent), and Eternal (0.50 per cent), leading the losers on BSE in Friday’s trade.

The private lender Axis Bank reported a 3.8 per cent YoY drop in its net profit at Rs 5,806.1 crore, despite net interest income marginally increased 0.8 per cent YoY to Rs 13,559.8 crore in the Q1FY26.

IT solutions provider Wipro is in the spotlight today. The company rose 2.44 per cent to Rs 266.60 in Friday’s trade after reporting a 9.9 per cent YoY rise in net profit at Rs 3,336.5 crore, while revenue inched up 0.8 per cent YoY to Rs 22,134.6 crore for the June 2025 quarter. It also announced an interim dividend of Rs 5 per share for the shareholders of the company.

Several companies, including Reliance Industries, JSW Steel, Hindustan Zinc, Indian Overseas Bank, L&T Finance, Bandhan Bank, Mahindra EPC Irrigation, Mastek, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, Indosolar, Atul, and IndiaMart Intermesh, are in the spotlight today as they are scheduled to report their first-quarter earnings.

The weak opening on Friday came following a negative closing on Thursday, where the Sensex settled at 82,259.24, down 375.24 points or 0.45 per cent, and the Nifty50 fell 100.60 points, or 0.40 per cent, to settle at 25,111.45.