Indices open with gains; NIFTY50 above 24,600, Sensex rises 230 points; Hero MotoCorp top gainer

The Indian stock market opened positive on Monday, August 4, led by metal stocks. Investors turned their focus on the Reserve Bank of India’s interest rate decision this week while Q1 earnings remained on the radar. Market participants will also monitor tariff-related news for additional signals.

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting is scheduled for August 4–6, 2025. Experts believe a pause is coming, and the expectation is for at least one more 25 bps cut by year-end, possibly at the October or December policy meetings.

The broader market was also trading with gains, as both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 10 advanced 0.45% and 0.39%, respectively.

Among sectors, Nifty Metal was the top gainer, rising 1.10%, followed by Nifty Auto (0.93%) and Nifty PSU Bank (0.72%). Meanwhile, Nifty IT was the only loser, falling 0.22% in the early session.

According to exchange data, on Friday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹3,366.40 crore on a net basis, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased ₹3,186.86 crore worth of equities.

On the global front, stocks in Asia were seen mixed as investors weighed tariffs and the OPEC+ output hike.

Japan's Nikkei was trading down 1.35% at 40,247 levels, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was seen at the 24,560 level, gaining 0.21%, and the Shanghai Composite also traded up by 0.20% at 3,567.02 levels. South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.95% to 3,149.13.

On Wall Street, US stocks tumbled on Friday as new tariffs and a surprisingly weak jobs report spurred selling pressure.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 542.40 points, or 1.23%, to end at 43,588.58; the S&P 500 slipped 101.38 points, or 1.60%, to 6,238.01; and the Nasdaq Composite fell 472.32 points, or 2.24%, to close at 20,650.13.

As many as 2,559 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,624 were trading in the green, 847 were trading in the red, and 88 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market breadth was in favour of positive.

Meanwhile, 27 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while only 34 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 46 stocks also hit their lower circuits, while 30 stocks hit their upper circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading 2.12% higher at 12.23 levels.

Hero MotoCorp was the biggest contributor, jumping 2.26%. Tata Steel (1.91%), Bharat Electronics (1.79%), Grasim Industries (1.38%), and Jio Financial Services (1.37%) were the other top gainers on the 50-share index.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra (-0.60%), Power Grid (-0.50%), Infosys (-0.50%), HCL Technologies (-0.43%), and Nestle India (-0.33%) constituted the top losers in the opening session.