ndian equity benchmark indices failed to hold on to their early gains and ended flat in a volatile trading session on July 16, weighed down by weak global cues and profit booking in the second half.


The market opened on a positive note and extended gains through the first half of the session, supported by buying in IT and select heavyweight stocks. However, selling pressure intensified in the latter half, wiping out the day's gains and dragging the benchmarks to close near their intraday lows.

At close, the Sensex was up 1.44 points at 77,186.87, and the Nifty was down 5.75 points or 0.02 percent at 24,072.75.

The broader market underperformed the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 slipping 0.4%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 ended largely unchanged.

Stock-specific action remained mixed. InterGlobe Aviation topped the gainers, rising 1.8%, followed by Wipro (+1.7%), Bajaj Finance (+1.6%), HCL Technologies (+1.6%) and Maruti Suzuki (+1.4%). On the downside, Eternal fell 2.8%, while SBI Life Insurance declined 2.3%. Bharat Electronics slipped 0.9%, HDFC Bank lost 0.8%, and Shriram Finance was down 0.8%.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Consumer Durables emerged as the top performer, gaining 1.5%, followed by Nifty Media (+1%), Nifty IT (+0.7%) and Nifty Auto (+0.4%). Nifty FMCG (+0.25%).

On the downside, Nifty Realty was the worst-performing sector, falling 1%. Nifty PSU Bank declined 0.5%, followed by Nifty Metal (-0.3%), Nifty Private Bank (-0.3%) and Nifty Bank (-0.3%).

More than 100 stocks touched their 52-week high on the BSE, including Biocon, Welspun Corp, Cemindia Projects, Honasa Consumer, Divis Labs, JB Chemicals, Torrent Pharma, Laurus Labs, Shyam Metalics, Ipca Labs, Sai Life Sciences, Star Health, Phoenix Mills, Welspun Living, among others.

The Indian rupee ended lower for the second consecutive session, finishing 58 paise lower at 96.20 against the US dollar, compared with the previous close of 95.32.

Among individual stocks, MRPL surged 10% after the company reported a profit for the June 2026 quarter, compared with a loss in the year-ago period. Dixon Technologies advanced 6% after HSBC upgraded the stock to 'Buy' and raised its target price to Rs 16,000.

On the downside, ICICI Lombard General Insurance tumbled 10% after reporting a 46% decline in June-quarter profit. Himadri Speciality Chemical also gained 6% after reporting 26% growth in June-quarter profit and a 28% increase in revenue.