At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 46.99 points or 0.06% to 79,903.90. The Nifty 50 index shed 17.80 points or 0.07% to 24,306.05.

In the broader, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.17% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.14%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,754 shares rose and 2,276 shares fell. A total of 111 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The Pre-Budget consultations for Union Budget 2024-25 that started from 19th June 2024 onward in the Ministry of Finance and chaired by Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, concluded on 5th July 2024. In the course of the in-person consultations, more than 120 invitees across 10 stakeholder groups, including experts and representatives from farmer associations & agriculture economists; trade unions; education & health sector; employment & skilling; MSME; trade & services; industry; economists; financial sector & capital markets; as well as, infrastructure, energy and urban sector, participated in the meetings, the ministry noted.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index shed 1.03% to 9,867.70. The index rose 0.34% in the past trading session.

Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.36%), Adani Enterprises (down 1.82%), JSW Steel (down 1.81%), Vedanta (down 1.26%) and APL Apollo Tubes (down 1.25%), Tata Steel (down 1.13%), Hindustan Zinc (down 1.03%), NMDC (down 0.63%), Hindalco Industries (down 0.58%) and Welspun Corp (down 0.5%) edged lower.

On the other hand, National Aluminium Company (up 2.62%) ,Hindustan Copper (up 2.39%) and Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (up 0.75%) edged higher.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal shed 0.06% to 6.989 as compared with previous close 6.993.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.4725, compared with its close of 83.4950 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2024 settlement declined 0.47% to Rs 72,707.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.01% to 104.88.

The United States 10-year bond yield added 0.92% to 4.307.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for September 2024 settlement lost 47 cents or 0.54% to $86.07 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ajmera Realty & Infra added 2.84% after the company’s sales value jumped 36% year on year to Rs 306 crore in Q1 FY25, driven by robust performance across its key project portfolio.

HPL Electric & Power soared 10.64% after the company announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Guangxi Ramway Technology Co. Ltd, China.

Jammu & Kashmir Bank tumbled 5.10%. The bank said that its gross advances jumped 11.64% to Rs 98,688.09 crore as on 30 June 2024 as against Rs 88,402.41 crore as of 30 June 2023.