Indian Markets Close Lower Amid Global Weakness; Inflation Hits 77-Month Low

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Benchmarks ended in the red on Monday, with the Sensex closing at 82,253.46 (▼ 0.30%) and the Nifty 50 at 25,082.30 (▼ 0.27%), marking a modest decline driven by weakness in FMCG and private banking stocks. The Nifty 50 has closed with a 0–1% decline 432 times in the last five years, underscoring the consistency of such moves.

🔎 Market Highlights

• Top Gainers:

  • Zomato (▲ 2.75%)
  • Titan (▲ 1.28%)
  • IndusInd Bank, ONGC, and SBI Life also gained modestly.

• Top Losers:

  • Jio Financial (▼ 2.06%)
  • Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, Infosys—IT and NBFC stocks led declines.

• Sectoral Trends:

  • Realty and Media stocks were in the green.
  • FMCG and Private Banks saw notable selling pressure.

• Global cues were mixed: most US and European indices ended lower; Asia showed a mixed pattern.

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🧮 Macroeconomic Updates

• Retail inflation in June cooled to 2.10%, a 77-month low, largely due to falling food prices—vegetables are 19% cheaper YoY.
• Wholesale inflation turned negative at -0.13%, offering room for potential monetary easing by the RBI.

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🏦 Corporate & Market Developments

• Jane Street deposited ₹4,843 crore in an SEBI escrow account, signaling intent to resume India operations. Rival XTX Markets exited index options citing diminished risk-reward post the regulatory crackdown.
• TCS CEO expects FY26 recovery after a weak Q1 marked by 3.3% QoQ revenue drop.
• HCL Tech Q1 net profit fell 9.7% YoY; declared ₹12/share dividend.
• Tata Steel began work on its ₹13,000 crore low-carbon EAF project in the UK.
• Adani Green raised ₹1,209 crore via promoter warrants conversion.
• Smartworks Coworking IPO oversubscribed 13.45x; Anthem Biosciences IPO subscribed 0.73x so far, closes 16 July.
• NSE launched monthly electricity futures, logging 4,000+ contracts by 2 PM.

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🌏 Global & Strategic Outlook

• JP Morgan’s Anu Aiyengar flagged India as a top M&A destination driven by domestic consumption and policy predictability. Key sectors: tech, infra, healthcare, financial services.
• India’s disinvestment push continues with a planned 4% stake sale in NLC India via OFS.
• In Bengaluru, traders are wary as GST notices linked to UPI transactions have triggered fear of digital payment scrutiny.

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📊 Commodities & Currency

📉 Rising USD/INR implies rupee weakness.

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📚 Investor Education: Understanding Share Capital

• Authorised Shares: Maximum a company can issue.
• Issued Shares: Created shares (not always all authorised).
• Outstanding Shares: Issued minus treasury/buybacks.
• Paid-up Shares: Shares for which payment is received.

Note: "Total shares" is often used loosely but generally refers to outstanding shares.

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📘 Mutual Fund Returns – Lesson 1

Chasing top performers is flawed. Just as top students vary across semesters, so do top mutual funds. Consistent performers in the top quartile are a better strategy than chasing #1 every time.