Opening Bell - Morning Commentary

S&P 500 and Nasdaq Snap Record Streaks

After failing to sustain an early move to the upside, stocks gave back ground throughout the remainder trading session yesterday. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs before ending the day in negative territory.

The pullback on Wall Street may have reflected profit-taking following the upward trend seen over the past several sessions, which saw Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reach new record highs.

Investors seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, the announcement could impact on the outlook for rates.

Disappointing results from Dow components such as UnitedHealth, Boeing, and Merck dragged indexes lower. Meanwhile, strong sales from Visa and AI demand at Corning provided positive spots but could not offset overall weakness.

The Labour Department's monthly jobs report is also likely to be in focus in the coming days, along with earnings news from Magnificent Seven members Apple , Amazon , Microsoft and Meta Platforms.

The Conference Board released a report showing consumer confidence in the U.S. saw a modest improvement in July. Its consumer confidence index rose to 97.2 in July after falling to a revised 95.2 in June. Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to increase to 95.8 from the 93.0 originally reported for the previous month.

Asia markets traded mixed on Wednesday amid uncertainties related to US tariffs and ahead of the Fed’s Policy decision.

Back home, Nifty broke the three-session losing streak, gaining 140 points (0.57%) to close at 24821.

A clear sign of the market's improved sentiment yesterday was the widespread recovery across sectors as all sectoral indices ended with gains.

The broader market recovered sharply yesterday, with both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices outperforming the benchmark. Market breadth turned positive after eight trading sessions. The advance-decline ratio on the BSE stood at 1.66, marking its highest level in more than a month.

However, Indian Rupee continued its downward trajectory, depreciating another 14 paise against the greenback to close at 86.81, reaching its weakest level since March 13, 2025. This depreciation was primarily driven by sustained selling by foreign funds, coupled with a recovery in the US Dollar and an increase in crude oil prices.

Two Nifty companies – Power grid and Tata steel are going to declare their quarterly results today.

The Nifty's close near the day's high yesterday resulted in a bullish "Engulfing" candlestick pattern on the daily chart.

Indian markets are poised to open flat to mildly negative in line with subdued Asian cues, though Bulls will attempt a recovery from lower levels today.

Yesterday's low of 24598 now establishes itself as a new support level for the Nifty. In the short term, 24882 and 25000 are seen as crucial hurdles on the upside.