Pre-Market News Tracker — Friday, 24 July 2026

Thought of the day — “Investing is laying out money now to get more money back in the future.” — Warren Buffett

Global market setup

Indian markets head into Friday's session on the back foot after four straight declines. Thursday saw the Sensex shed 363.66 points (-0.47%) to 76,391.39 and the Nifty lose 126.65 points (-0.53%) to 23,869.60, slipping below the 23,900 mark as crude and Middle East tensions weighed. Overnight, Wall Street fell sharply — the Nasdaq dropped 2.15% to 25,137.69, the S&P 500 declined 1.21% to 7,408.30 and the Dow lost 506.93 points (-0.97%) to 51,711.65, dragged by a roughly 7% fall in Alphabet on AI-spending concerns and a 14% slide in Tesla after results. Crude extended its surge: Brent jumped about 7% to roughly USD 100 per barrel, its highest since 22 May, after Houthi attacks on Red Sea tankers and fresh US-Iran exchanges over the Strait of Hormuz. GIFT Nifty at 23,671 (-0.85%) points to a gap-down open. The Infosys reaction, which reported Q1 FY27 on Thursday, and a heavy domestic earnings slate set the domestic tone.

Market mood — CAUTIOUS — RISK-OFF ON A CRUDE SPIKE AND GLOBAL TECH SELL-OFF. GIFT Nifty at 23,671 (-0.85%) points to a gap-down open after four losing sessions. Brent near USD 100, a 2.15% Nasdaq drop and a rupee near record lows frame the day; the Infosys reaction and Nifty's defence of the 23,800 zone shape the range.

Key stock news

• Infosys — Post-Results Verdict Today — Infosys reported Q1 FY27 after Thursday's session: revenue USD 5,082 mn (+2.4% YoY, +1.0% QoQ in constant currency), net profit Rs. 7,769 cr (+12.2% YoY), and operating margin at 21.1% (+0.2% QoQ). Large-deal TCV was USD 3.6 bn with 61% net-new, AI revenue reached 8.2% of the quarter, and free cash flow was a robust USD 0.96 bn. The catch is guidance: management trimmed the top end of its FY27 revenue growth band to 1.5-3.0% (from 1.5-3.5%) while retaining the 20-22% margin range — a cautious signal on discretionary demand. The whole Nifty IT complex trades off this reaction, and it lands into a brutal US tech tape (Nasdaq -2.15%). We would treat rallies in IT with caution until the demand narrative stabilises; the print itself is respectable, but the guidance trim is what the market fixates on. In focus
  Rev USD 5.08 bn (+1.0% QoQ cc) | PAT Rs. 7,769 cr (+12.2% YoY) | Margin 21.1% | FY27 guide cut to 1.5-3.0% | TCV USD 3.6 bn | AI 8.2%
• OMCs — Crude Spike Squeezes Marketing Margins — Brent's roughly 7% jump to near USD 100 — its highest since 22 May — directly compresses OMC marketing margins, which are the most sensitive of all to a fast crude move. Every USD 10 on Brent adds roughly Rs. 1 lakh crore to India's annual import bill at ~85% import dependency, and the rupee sliding to a record-low Rs. 96.58 amplifies the hit in local terms. This is a headwind that governs the entire downstream complex, not a single-stock story. Under pressure
  Brent ~USD 100 (+7%, 6-wk high) | Rupee record-low Rs. 96.58 | Every USD 10 Brent = ~Rs. 1 lakh cr import bill
• Defence — The Structural Beneficiary of Escalation — With the 2026 Iran conflict re-escalating — Houthi tanker strikes, US-Iran exchanges and Trump floating a major attack — domestic defence PSUs remain the one basket that structurally benefits rather than suffers. HAL and BEL carry multi-year order books and growing export pipelines, and have absorbed each escalation phase this year as the market's shock-absorber. Development
  Order books robust | Sector has cushioned each 2026 Iran escalation | Both hedge and compounder
• Metals — A Second Day Under Pressure — Metal shares fell for a second straight session on Thursday, pressured by a firm US dollar, the rupee's slide and renewed global-growth anxiety after weak Wall Street tech leadership. A stronger dollar is a structural headwind for the whole base-metals complex, and Chinese demand signals remain soft. We would stay cautious on ferrous and non-ferrous names near-term; the sector needs either a dollar reversal or a genuine China stimulus impulse to re-rate, and neither is visible today. Jindal Steel's Q1 print lands today and will be read for volume and realisation trends. Under pressure
  Metals -2nd straight day | Firm USD + weak rupee headwind | Jindal Steel Q1 today
• Shriram Finance — Q1 FY27 Results Today — Shriram Finance reports Q1 FY27 today, and NBFC prints this season carry outsized signalling value: credit costs in the retail, vehicle-finance and microfinance books are the cleanest available read on how the bottom half of the consumption pyramid is holding up. Watch disbursement growth, net interest margin and stage-3 asset movement rather than the headline profit line. A clean asset-quality report from a large diversified NBFC would be a modest positive for the rate-sensitive complex, which otherwise remains hostage to where crude — and therefore the RBI's room to cut — settles. In focus
  Q1 FY27 results today | Key lines: disbursements, NIM, stage-3 | NBFC proxy for retail credit stress
• NTPC & Power — Defensive Bid, Results Today — NTPC reports Q1 FY27 today alongside a heavy slate that includes SBI Life, Shriram Finance, Tata Consumer, Jindal Steel, Laurus Labs and Dr Lal PathLabs. On a risk-off day, regulated-return utilities like NTPC tend to act as ballast — steady earnings, a healthy dividend, and insulation from both the crude and the global-tech shocks driving the sell-off. We remain constructive on the large-cap power and defensive-consumption pockets as places to shelter while the crude and IT questions resolve. Watch NTPC's capacity-addition commentary and the renewables arm's progress. Development
  Q1 today: NTPC, SBI Life, Shriram Fin, Tata Consumer, Jindal Steel, Laurus, Dr Lal | Defensive ballast

Earnings watch

Global factors

A. Crude Spikes to a Six-Week High as the Iran Conflict Re-Escalates

• Brent surged about 7% to around USD 100/bbl on Thursday, its highest since 22 May, after Houthi attacks on Red Sea tankers and fresh US-Iran exchanges over the Strait of Hormuz.
• Trump warned the US would hold Iran responsible for future Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping and said he was considering a major attack on Iran, keeping a supply premium embedded in the price.
• Mechanically for India: every USD 10 on Brent adds roughly Rs. 1 lakh crore to the annual import bill at ~85% import dependency; the rupee slid to a record-low Rs. 96.58.
• WTI held above USD 89. The crude move is now the dominant variable for Indian equities, the rupee and the rate-cut path.

B. Wall Street Sells Off — Alphabet and Tesla Drag the Nasdaq

• The Nasdaq fell 2.15% to 25,137.69, the S&P 500 dropped 1.21% to 7,408.30 and the Dow lost 507 points (-0.97%) to 51,711.65 on Thursday.
• Alphabet fell about 7% after results reignited concern over surging AI capital expenditure, and Tesla slid roughly 14% on its own print — a one-two blow to megacap-tech sentiment.
• The weak US tech tape lands directly on top of the Infosys reaction, setting a heavy backdrop for Nifty IT at Friday's open.

C. Q1 FY27 Earnings — A Heavy Domestic Slate into a Weak Tape

• Infosys opened the IT majors' reporting with USD 5.08 bn revenue (+1.0% QoQ cc) and a 21.1% margin, but trimmed the top of its FY27 growth guidance to 1.5-3.0%.
• Today's slate is dense: NTPC, SBI Life, Shriram Finance, Tata Consumer, Jindal Steel, Laurus Labs, Dr Lal PathLabs and New India Assurance among roughly 52 companies.
• IndiGo, Cipla, Nestle India, BPCL and Adani Power were among the 60-plus names that reported across Wednesday and Thursday, giving a broad read on aviation, pharma, staples and energy.

Today’s watchlist

• Infosys Reaction — Q1 was clean (USD 5.08 bn, 21.1% margin) but the FY27 guidance trim to 1.5-3.0% is the sticking point. It sets the tone for the entire Nifty IT index, which opens into a Nasdaq down 2.15%
• Brent Near USD 100 — A six-week high driven by Red Sea and Hormuz supply fear. This single variable governs the rupee, OMCs, aviation, paints and the RBI's rate-cut room; a settle back below USD 90 would relieve the whole basket
• Nifty 23,800 Pivot — The intraday line for Friday after four straight falls. GIFT Nifty at 23,671 points to a gap-down open; a break of 23,800 opens 23,650-23,500, while 24,000 is the level to reclaim
• Bank Nifty ~57,835 — 57,000 is the level to hold; below 56,000 opens 55,200. A neutral, range-bound setup — only a move above 58,000-58,500 signals the pressure has lifted
• Rupee at Rs. 96.58 — A record low with no cushion as crude spikes and FIIs sell. A weak rupee imports inflation and caps the RBI; watch for any RBI intervention near 96.75
• FII vs DII Flows — FIIs sold Rs. 2,999 cr cash and are net short ~2.63 lakh index-futures contracts; DIIs are cushioning. Whether domestic money keeps absorbing this supply is the week's key tell

Sectoral observations

Geopolitical tracker

Closing summary

Friday sets up defensively. Four straight declines, a crude spike to a six-week high near USD 100, a Nasdaq down 2.15% on megacap-tech weakness, and a rupee at a record-low Rs. 96.58 leave the market with little cushion, and GIFT Nifty at 23,671 points to a gap-down open. The domestic swing factor is the Infosys reaction: a respectable Q1 (USD 5.08 bn revenue, 21.1% margin, USD 3.6 bn of deal wins) undercut by a trimmed FY27 growth guidance of 1.5-3.0%, landing into the worst possible global-tech backdrop. Metals are down a second session, OMCs and aviation are squeezed by crude, and only defence sits structurally on the right side of the escalation.

Watchlist: the Infosys reaction against the Nifty IT complex, Shriram Finance's credit costs as the cleanest read on retail-consumption stress, Bank Nifty at the 57,000 pivot, and whether DII buying keeps absorbing FII supply.

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