The Indian equity benchmarks are set to stage a gap down on Thursday, July 30, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Gandhinagar dropped 93 points to 24,219 amid mixed cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks started August futures and option series on a strong note on Wednesday, July 29, powered by gains in information technology, metal, FMCG and capital goods shares.

The SENSEX surged 889 points to close at 77,655 and NIFTY50 index climbed 265 points or 1.1% to close at 24,250.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading on a mixed note as investors turned cautious after US Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates on hold while crude oil was hovering around $86 per barrel as fighting in the Middle East escalated.

US carried out fresh strikes in Iran on Wednesday, the US military said, further intensifying a five-month-old war that was already expanding beyond its main fronts to embroil additional countries in ‌the region, news agency Reuters reported.

Japan's Nikkei rose 1.07%, China's Shanghai declined 0.61%, South Korea's KOSPI advanced 1.12% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.2%.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended sharply lower after US Fed decided to keep rates on hold even as US central bank chief Kevin Warsh pledged commitment to bring inflation down, a message that left markets confused about just what he was prepared to do, Reuters reported.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.2%, S&P 500 index dropped 1.5% and tech heavy Nasdaq index plunged 1.74%.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth ₹2,982 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth ₹998 crore, as per NSE data.

FIIs have so far this year sold shares worth ₹2,64,659 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Stocks to watch

The company's board also approved an investment of ₹1,225 crore for phase I of greenfield expansion in Andhra Pradesh for motorcycle production capacity upgrade as part of an overall investment plan of Rs ₹2,500 crore in a phased manner.

The consolidated Q1 revenue from operations stood at ₹6,632.42 crore vs ₹5,041.84 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, reflecting a growth of 31.55%.

It had reported a profit after tax (PAT) of ₹131 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement.

The company's total revenue increased 63.3% to ₹954 crore in Q1 FY27 from ₹584 crore in the April-June period of FY26.

The revenue growth was driven by higher irradiation, plant performance, and RE and BESS capacity addition, the company said.

The standalone health insurer had posted a net profit of ₹438 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

During the quarter, total income increased to ₹4,471 crore from ₹3,990 crore in the same period a year ago, Star Health and Allied Insurance Company said in a regulatory filing.

The feature alerts riders to potholes, broken road patches, uneven roads and speed breakers ahead while navigating, using road intelligence built from data generated by Ather's connected scooter fleet, Ather Energy said in a statement.

The 'Pothole+ Alerts' feature has been rolled out for customers with Gen 2 and above scooters, including the Ather 450 Apex, 450X and Rizta Z, it added.

The company had posted a net profit (attributable to owners) of ₹171.89 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.

Its revenue from operations, however, grew 8.85% to ₹1,674.99 crore in Q1 FY27 compared to ₹1,538.76 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Sequentially, profit and revenue fell 28% and 2%, respectively.

However, the company had posted a net loss of ₹142 crore in the year-ago quarter, Vedanta Iron and Steel said in a regulatory filing.

The company's revenue from operations rose by 18.32% year-on-year to ₹3,662 crore in Q1 FY27, compared to ₹3,095 crore in the corresponding quarter of the preceding fiscal.

The company had posted profit after tax of ₹49.9 crore a year ago.

The revenue from operations of Syrma SGS grew by about 67% to ₹1,603.7 crore during the quarter from ₹960 crore in the year-ago period.

Its revenue from operations rose 79.22% YoY to ₹7,931.79 crore in the April-June period of the current fiscal year, compared to ₹4,425.83 crore a year back.

As of date, it has achieved a record order book of around ₹61,500 crore.

(With PTI inputs)