July 08, 2024 at 01:23 am EDT
BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian equity benchmarks inched lower on Monday as jeweler and watchmaker Titan fell after reporting weak quarterly sales growth, while small- and mid-cap stocks extended their record rally powered by strong retail inflows.
The NSE Nifty 50 was down 0.11% at 24,297 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.14% to 79,880.71 points as of 10:45 a.m. IST.
The domestically focussed small- and mid-caps extended their rally to fresh record highs, gaining 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively. The indexes have risen about one-fourth this year compared with a 12% gain for the Nifty 50.
"Main element of focus will be quarterly results," said Samrat Dasgupta, chief executive at Esquire Capital Investment Advisors, adding that continued retail inflows into mutual funds are boosting small and mid-cap stocks.
Titan lost 4.2% after posting its weakest quarterly revenue growth in two years. The company, which reported its June quarter business update post closing bell on Friday, was the top percentage loser on the Nifty 50 index.
Consumer companies Dabur, Marico and Adani Wilmar rose 2.5%-6%, after reporting a pick up in first-quarter revenue growth. The consumer index added 1.3%.
"Outlook for markets will continue to remain positive at least till the national budget, due later in the month, even if the earnings slightly disappoint," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of research of retail equities at SMC Global Securities.
The government will announce the union budget for fiscal year 2025 on July 23.
The bank index fell 0.4%, with state-owned lenders easing 0.8%.
Bank of Baroda lost 3.5% after reporting soft loan growth for the June quarter.
Tata Motors gained about 2% after its unit JLR posted a rise in factory and retail volumes in June quarter, helped by improvement in production and steady demand. Tata Motors was the top Nifty 50 gainer. (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sonia Cheema)

Sumber : Reuters