Indian equities head into Wednesday's session on July 15 with individual stocks, rather than the broader index, likely to steer the action. The June-quarter earnings season is now in full swing, and weak global cues from the technology sector are keeping traders cautious. As a result, investor attention today will be trained on a handful of specific counters more than on the market as a whole.
Global Cues and the Market Mood
In early trade, Brent crude pushed above $85 per barrel, driven largely by escalating tensions in West Asia that have revived worries over oil supply. At the same time, investors are still digesting the latest US CPI print, which has reinforced expectations that American interest rates could stay higher for longer. The combination of costlier crude and a firmer rate outlook typically weighs on emerging markets. For now, GIFT Nifty is signalling a mildly negative or range-bound open for the domestic market.
How Tuesday Played Out
The previous session ended on the back foot. The Sensex closed 561.46 points lower at 77,054.94, while the Nifty 50 slipped 158.95 points to settle at 24,052.05. The weakness was not confined to any single sector; instead, there was broad-based profit booking across the board. That much is clear from the breadth: 2,632 stocks declined against just 1,422 that advanced. Here are the counters that could see the most movement today.
Stocks Riding on Strong Results
Tata Elxsi's June-quarter (Q1 FY27) numbers have come in better than the market expected. The company's net profit rose 18.2% year-on-year to Rs 170.6 crore. On the strength of that beat, the stock is set to stay firmly in focus during today's trade.
L&T Technology Services, which operates in the engineering and research and development space, also posted a solid quarter, with consolidated revenue rising 11.5% even as profit came in line with estimates. Separately, a leading brokerage firm reported a 2.2% year-on-year rise in Q1 FY27 net profit, helped by healthy growth in net interest income, margin funding and AUM.
Hero MotoCorp and Delhivery in the News
Hero MotoCorp's board investment committee has approved an additional investment of up to Rs 1,000 crore in its associate company Ather Energy. There is important news for Delhivery too. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Delhivery Financial Services, has received the RBI's Certificate of Registration as a Type-2 NBFC (NBFC-ND), a move that widens the scope of the company's financial operations.
Pressure on IT Stocks
The IT pack could come under strain today. Heavyweights such as Infosys, Wipro and TCS will be in focus after IBM's second-quarter results missed Wall Street estimates and triggered a sharp fall in its stock. The knock-on effect was visible overnight, with Infosys and Wipro ADRs trading weak in the US, and that softness could spill over onto domestic IT names.
A Double Update on SBI
There are two notable developments around SBI, the country's largest public sector lender. The bank is planning to sell its 0.5% stake in PNB MetLife India Insurance to MetLife International Holdings for Rs 120.1 crore. In addition, the SBI Funds Management IPO drew 68% subscription on Day 1, with the retail portion in particular showing strong enthusiasm.
