Sensex soars over 600 pts, Nifty tops 24,450 as banks, autos power rally; HDFC Bank, M&M, RIL among top gainers

Indian benchmark indices extended their gaining streak on Monday, shrugging off mixed global cues, as easing crude oil prices, a revival in monsoon activity and renewed foreign institutional investor (FII) buying boosted investor sentiment. Optimism ahead of the June-quarter earnings season also supported the rally.

The BSE Sensex advanced 624 points, or 0.8%, to hit an intraday high of 78,388, while the NSE Nifty50 climbed 184 points, or 0.76%, to reclaim 24,450 mark during the day’s trade so far.

Broader markets traded in positive territory, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices rising 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively. India VIX, the market's fear gauge, edged higher by about 1% to 11.92.

HDFC Bank tops gainers’ chart

HDFC Bank emerged as the top gainer on the Sensex pack, rallying 3.6% after reporting healthy double-digit growth in loans and deposits for the June quarter. Mahindra & Mahindra gained nearly 2%, followed by Bharat Electronics (1.6%), Reliance Industries (1.3%), ICICI Bank (1.2%) and Bharti Airtel (1.1%).

On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank declined 3.6%, emerging as the biggest loser. IT stocks remained under pressure, with TCS falling 1.6%, Infosys declining 1.1% and Tech Mahindra losing nearly 1%, reflecting cautious sentiment ahead of the earnings season. Bajaj Finserv also slipped 1.4%.

Sectorally, Nifty Realty led the gains, rising 1.4%, followed by Nifty Oil & Gas (1.3%), Auto (1.1%), Consumer Durables (1.1%) and Metal (1.1%). Financial stocks also remained firm, with the Nifty Private Bank index gaining 0.6%. In contrast, Nifty Media declined 1.2%, while Nifty IT fell 0.8% as investors remained cautious on the sector.

Q1 earnings to drive near-term market direction

According to VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd., the revival of the monsoon and renewed FII buying have improved near-term market sentiment.

"Revival of monsoon and FIIs turning buyers last Friday are positives for the market in the near term. From this week onwards, the market will start responding to the Q1 results, which will begin on July 9. Overall, Q1 results will be subdued due to the energy shock and macro headwinds triggered by the conflict in West Asia. Now that the macro headwinds are behind us, the market will be looking forward to the potential trends in the rest of the year by taking cues from Q1 results," he said.

He expects financials and automobiles to outperform during the earnings season, while IT companies are likely to report subdued results and modest guidance.

Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, said buying interest was visible in defence, metals, real estate, automobile and financial stocks at the opening bell.

"Crude oil prices continue to trade in the $68–69 per barrel range, providing a supportive backdrop for India's macroeconomic outlook, while the rupee continues to hover above the 95 mark against the U.S. dollar, reflecting persistent external pressures," he noted.

Rajesh Palviya, Head of Research at Axis Direct, said global cues remained mixed despite record highs on Wall Street. "While the Dow Jones scaled fresh record highs after softer-than-expected US jobs data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve is likely to remain on hold, weakness in semiconductor stocks dragged the Nasdaq lower, keeping sentiment toward technology stocks selective.”

On crude prices, he said that Brent has eased towards the $72-per-barrel mark amid expectations of higher OPEC+ supply and normalisation of geopolitical risks, which should support India's inflation and external balance.

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