Sensex jumps over 300 pts, Nifty tops 25,000 as strong Q1 earnings lift market sentiment

Indian benchmark equity indices turned positive after a flat start on Monday, supported by better-than-expected Q1 earnings from heavyweights HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Reliance Industries, which helped offset global trade concerns.

At around 10 am, the BSE Sensex was up 320 points, or 0.39%, at 82,078, while the Nifty50 rose 77 points, or 0.29%, to 25,043.

From the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, M&M, Infosys, and Titan were the top laggards, falling up to 2%. In contrast, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, and Eternal opened with gains.


India’s top two private lenders, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, reported better-than-expected Q1 results on Saturday, supported by higher interest income.

HDFC Bank posted a 12.2% rise in net profit despite a five-fold jump in provisions, while ICICI Bank reported a 15.5% increase, aided by strong loan growth.

On the sectoral front, Nifty IT dropped 0.9%, weighed down by losses in Wipro, HCL Tech, Mphasis, and Infosys. Nifty Oil & Gas, PSU Bank, and Pharma indices also declined between 0.5% and 0.9%. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap 100 slipped between 0.2% and 0.35%.

Experts View

"The single most important factor which the market will be focusing on in the coming days will be the outcome of the trade talks between the US and India. If an interim trade deal between the two countries is reached with a tariff rate of less than 20 % on India, that would be a positive from the market perspective," said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.

"Weekend Q1 results were good with ICICI Bank reporting the best numbers, particularly in PAT and credit growth. HDFC Bank also reported steady set of numbers. Flow of institutional funds from some banks to ICICI Bank is a possibility, going forward. RIL’s Q1 numbers are steady with Jio and retail posting good results. RIL stock has the potential to remain resilient," Vijayakumar added.

Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities, said, "The short-term trend of the Nifty has turned cautious, with further support seen at 24742 and 24500. On the higher side, 25255 would continue to act as a resistance."

Global Markets

Asian shares and the yen held their ground on Monday as Japanese elections proved bad for the government but no worse than already priced in, while Wall Street futures braced for earnings from the first of the tech giants.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1%, while South Korean stocks added 0.5%. Chinese blue chips firmed 0.3% as Beijing kept interest rates unchanged as widely expected.

EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures both dipped 0.3%, while FTSE futures lost 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures both edged up 0.1%, and are already around record highs in anticipation of more solid earnings reports.

FII/DII Tracker

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers for the second consecutive session on July 18, offloading equities worth Rs 3,694 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) continued their ninth straight session of buying, with net purchases worth Rs 2,820 crore.

Crude Oil

Oil prices were little changed on Monday as traders assess the impact of new European sanctions on Russian oil supplies while they also worry about tariffs possibly weakening fuel demand as Middle East producers are raising output.

Brent crude futures climbed 6 cents to $69.34 a barrel by 0344 GMT after settling 0.35% lower on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $67.51 a barrel, up 17 cents, following a 0.30% decline in the previous session.

Rupee vs Dollar

The Indian rupee fell 15 paise to 86.31 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, declined 0.06% to 98.42 level.

(With inputs from agencies)