SENSEX, NIFTY50 gain for fourth straight session as strong Q1 business updates lift sentiment

The Indian equity benchmarks rose for a fourth straight session on Monday, July 6, as sentiment remained positive on expectations of a strong earnings season after a slew of companies announced their encouraging quarterly business updates. The SENSEX rose as much as 634 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,459 led by gains in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Eternal, Axis Bank and Bharti Airtel.

The SENSEX ended 521 points higher at 78,285 and NIFTY50 index advanced 160 points to close at 24,430.

Encouraging quarterly business updates posted by a slew of companies over the weekend lifted the investor sentiment. HDFC Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, said that its gross advances in the first quarter of current financial year rose 15.4% to ₹30.61 lakh crore, compared to ₹26.53 lakh crore last year.

Axis Bank said that its gross loans in the first quarter advanced 19% to ₹12.73 lakh crore as against ₹10.72 lakh crore in the year-ago period.

FMCG companies like Godrej Consumer Products and Dabur said that they would record double digit growth in revenues.

12 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended higher led by the NIFTY Realty index's 1.8% gain. NIFTY Consumer Durables, Oil& Gas, Private Bank, Pharma, Metal, Auto, Bank and Financial Services indices also rose between 0.5% and 1.4%.

On the flip side, PSU banking, IT and media shares faced selling pressure.

Broader markets also witnessed buying interest as NIFTY Midcap 100 index advanced 0.45% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index gained 0.75%.

Defence stocks ended higher as the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Friday accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals worth ₹52,000 crore, clearing approvals for a range of weapon systems and platforms to enhance the operational capabilities of the Indian armed forces.

HDFC Bank was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 3.36% to close at ₹828. Hindalco, ONGC, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Electronics, Eicher Motors and Reliance Industries also rose between 1.36% and 2.71%.

On the other hand, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Max Healthcare, TCS, Coal India, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, Power Grid and HDFC Life were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was negative as 1,769 shares ended lower while 1,578 closed higher on the NSE.