Sensex drops 300 pts, Nifty tests 25,000; Axis Bank sinks 5%, Wipro soars 3%

Stock markets lost ground, after opening flat, on Friday as investors reacted to the June quarter (Q1FY26) earnings of Axis Bank, Wipro, and LTIMindtree. Besides, they await details of India-US trade deal, where reports suggest the US may impose 10-15 per cent tariff on India.

The BSE Sensex index quoted at 82,026, lower by 233 points or 0.28 per cent, while the Nifty50 was 25,047, down 64 points or 0.26 per cent. The indices hit their respective day lows of 81,939 and 25,026.

Axis Bank (down 5 per cent) was the top loser on the Nifty and Sensex indices, followed by Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Eternal, SBI Life, Grasim, Bharti Airtel, and SBI.

On the upside, Wipro (up 2.6 per cent), M&M, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Hero MotoCorp, HCL Tech, and L&T were the top gainers.

In the broader markets, the Nifty MidCap index and the Nifty SmallCap index reversed losses to trade 0.15 per cent and 0.10 per cent higher, respectively.

Among sectors, the Nifty Realty, and the Nifty Auto indices were up 0.6 per cent each. On the contrary, the Nifty Private Bank index fell 1 per cent.
Q1 results today
Reliance Industries, JSW Steel, Hindustan Zinc, Indian Overseas Bank, LT Finance, and Bandhan Bank are among the prominent companies scheduled to report their Q1 results today.

That apart, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Union Bank of India, RBL Bank, YES Bank, AU Small Finance Bank, Can Fin Homes, Central Bank of India, India Cements, and JK Cement will announce their earnings on Saturday, July 19.