Sensex ends 521 points higher, Nifty above 24,400; HDFC up 3%

Benchmark equity indices extended their winning run to a fifth straight session on Monday, supported by gains in heavyweight banking stocks after strong quarterly business updates from HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. Lower crude oil prices and continued foreign investor interest also lifted market sentiment.

The BSE Sensex rose 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 Sensex gainer, rising 3.59% after reporting healthy June quarter business numbers. M&M climbed 2.02%, BEL gained 1.79%, Reliance Industries advanced 1.31%, ICICI Bank rose 1.12%, while Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, Eternal, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, Tata Steel and Titan also ended higher.

On the downside, Kotak Mahindra Bank fell 3.89%, followed by TCS, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, Adani Ports, HCLTech, UltraTech Cement, IndiGo, Infosys and Tech Mahindra.

BANKS LEAD MARKET HIGHER

Financial stocks remained the biggest support for the market after HDFC Bank and Axis Bank posted robust 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 climbed 1.12%, while HDFC Bank surged 3.59% to become the biggest contributor to the Sensex's gains.

However, Kotak Mahindra Bank bucked the trend, falling 3.89% after reporting slower sequential loan and deposit growth.

AUTOS, REALTY SHINE; IT UNDERPERFORMS

Auto stocks also witnessed strong buying. The Nifty Auto index gained 1.36%, supported by expectations of healthy June quarter sales and earnings.

The Nifty Realty index jumped 1.81%, while the Nifty Consumer Durables index gained 1.48%. Nifty Oil & Gas rose 1.12%, Nifty Metal advanced 0.98%, Nifty Financial Services Ex-Bank gained 0.17%, Nifty MidSmall Financial Services rose 0.24%, Nifty Chemicals climbed 0.64%, Nifty Healthcare gained 0.24% and Nifty500 Healthcare added 0.11%.

Information technology stocks, however, witnessed profit booking after last week's sharp rally. The Nifty IT index declined 0.59%, while the Nifty Media index fell 0.95% and the Nifty PSU Bank index lost 0.88%. Nifty FMCG slipped 0.20%.

The rally was broad-based across the broader market as well.

The Nifty100 gained 0.64%, Nifty200 rose 0.60%, Nifty500 advanced 0.57%, Nifty Midcap50 added 0.45%, Nifty Midcap100 gained 0.45% and Nifty Smallcap100 climbed 0.75%.

India VIX edged up 0.16%, indicating slightly higher volatility expectations.

LOWER CRUDE, FIIS SUPPORT SENTIMENT

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said lower crude oil prices and improving foreign institutional investor (FII) flows continue to support domestic equities.

"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, OMC profitability, and overall macro stability. Globally, profit-booking in crowded AI-led trades impacted the global market while India could perform well led by large caps due to improvement in FIIs inflows trend," he added.

He further said that on the domestic front, financials, autos, realty, and oil & gas led the gains. Financials were supported by expectations of healthy private bank earnings, while autos benefited from strong volume trends and improving demand outlook.

"Realty remained buoyed by resilient housing demand," he said.

Meanwhile, the rupee weakened 0.2% against the US dollar to close at 95.3950, pressured by a stronger dollar and maturing contracts in the non-deliverable forward market, which weighed on the domestic currency.

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