Benchmark equity indices extended their gains for a fifth consecutive session on Monday, driven by strong performances in heavyweight banking stocks following robust quarterly business updates from HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. Softer crude oil prices and sustained foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows also supported market sentiment.
The BSE Sensex advanced 521.16 points, or 0.67%, to close at 78,285.07, while the NSE Nifty50 gained 159.50 points, or 0.66%, to settle at 24,430.35.
HDFC Bank emerged as the top performer on the Sensex, rising 3.59% after reporting strong provisional business figures for the June quarter. Mahindra & Mahindra gained 2.02%, Bharat Electronics (BEL) rose 1.79%, Reliance Industries added 1.31%, and ICICI Bank climbed 1.12%. Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, Eternal, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, Tata Steel and Titan also ended the session in positive territory.
Among the laggards, Kotak Mahindra Bank declined 3.89%, followed by TCS, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, Adani Ports, HCLTech, UltraTech Cement, IndiGo, Infosys and Tech Mahindra.
Banking stocks provided the biggest boost to the market after HDFC Bank and Axis Bank released encouraging provisional business updates for the June quarter.
The Nifty Financial Services 25/50 index gained 0.69%, while the Nifty Private Bank index rose 0.47%. ICICI Bank advanced 1.12%, and HDFC Bank's 3.59% rally made it the largest contributor to the Sensex's gains.
Kotak Mahindra Bank, however, bucked the broader trend, falling 3.89% after reporting slower sequential growth in loans and deposits.
Automobile stocks also witnessed strong buying interest, with the Nifty Auto index rising 1.36% on expectations of healthy June-quarter sales and earnings.
The Nifty Realty index climbed 1.81%, while the Nifty Consumer Durables index gained 1.48%. The Nifty Oil & Gas index advanced 1.12%, Nifty Metal rose 0.98%, Nifty Financial Services Ex-Bank added 0.17%, Nifty MidSmall Financial Services gained 0.24%, Nifty Chemicals climbed 0.64%, Nifty Healthcare rose 0.24%, and the Nifty500 Healthcare index added 0.11%.
Information technology stocks, however, came under selling pressure following last week's strong rally. The Nifty IT index fell 0.59%, while the Nifty Media index declined 0.95%. The Nifty PSU Bank index slipped 0.88%, and the Nifty FMCG index edged down 0.20%.
The broader market also ended higher, with the Nifty100 gaining 0.64%, the Nifty200 rising 0.60%, the Nifty500 advancing 0.57%, the Nifty Midcap50 and Nifty Midcap100 each adding 0.45%, and the Nifty Smallcap100 climbing 0.75%.
India VIX inched up 0.16%, indicating a marginal increase in expectations of market volatility.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited, said domestic equities remained resilient despite mixed global cues, supported by lower crude oil prices and improving FII inflows.
"Equities traded with a positive bias despite mixed global cues, supported by stable crude prices. Continued softness in crude would support inflation, the current account balance, oil marketing company profitability and overall macroeconomic stability. Globally, profit booking in crowded AI-led trades weighed on international markets, while India is likely to outperform, supported by large-cap stocks and improving FII inflows," he said.
Nair added that financials, automobiles, real estate, and oil & gas stocks led the day's gains. Financial stocks benefited from expectations of strong earnings from private sector banks, automobile companies were supported by healthy sales trends and improving demand, while the real estate sector continued to gain on the back of resilient housing demand.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee weakened by 0.2% against the US dollar to close at 95.3950, pressured by a stronger US dollar and the maturity of contracts in the non-deliverable forward market, which weighed on the domestic currency.
