Market Midday, 20 July 2026: West Asia Crisis Drags Benchmarks

The volatile situation in West Asia took a toll on investors' sentiments as markets remained in the red in the afternoon session. At 12:14 pm, the Sensex was down 0.75%, while the Nifty 50 was down 0.61% during the same time. Broader markets, however, were in the positive territory. At 12:15 pm, the:

• Nifty Midcap 100 index was higher 0.39%

• Nifty Smallcap 100 index was higher 0.6%

Sector-wise, the Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Financial Services and the Nifty Bank appeared to be under pressure.

Top Stocks On The Nifty 50

Stocks of the following firms were the top five performers on the Nifty 50 index at 12:17 pm:

• Cipla Ltd.

• Trent Ltd.

• JSW Steel Ltd.

• ONGC Ltd.

• Bharti Airtel Ltd.

Stock-Specific Action

• HDFC Bank shares fell 5% in early trade despite the bank reporting a 5% year-on-year (YoY) growth in its standalone net profit for Q1 FY27.

• ICICI Bank shares rose 3% in early trade after the bank reported strong Q1 FY27 earnings.

• Axis Bank shares declined 5% in intraday deals after the bank reported a 22.5% YoY rise in standalone net profit for Q1 FY27.

• NATCO Pharma shares surged as much as 4.5% in early trade after the company said that it received a tentative approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for Olaparib Tablets' generic version.

IPO Corner

In the primary markets:

• Gulf Lloyds’ initial public offering (IPO) opens for subscription today. It is a book-build issue worth ₹18.19 crore.

• Today is the second subscription day of the Caliber Mining and Logistics IPO. It is a book-build issue worth ₹450 crore.

• It is the last subscription day of the Sotefin Bharat IPO. It is a book-build issue worth ₹89.76 crore.

Traders are likely to closely monitor the prevailing situation in West Asia along with crude oil prices. Developments on these fronts are likely to dictate market movement in the remaining session.

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