SENSEX surges 965 points, NIFTY50 ends above 24,300; Reliance rises nearly 3% ahead of earnings

The Indian equity benchmarks surged on Friday, July 17, on expectation of strong corporate earnings from heavyweight companies like Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Punjab National Bank. The SENSEX rose as much as 1,096 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,367.

The SENSEX advanced 965 points to close at 78,151 and NIFTY50 index climbed 262 points to settle at 24,334.

ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Mahindra & Mahindra were top contributors towards gain in the SENSEX, they collectively added over 675 points, data from BSE showed.

With today's surge in markets, investors' wealth soared by ₹75,345 crore, according to BSE data.

11 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended higher led by the NIFTY Private Bank index's over 2% gain. NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, Realty, IT, Auto and Oil & Gas indices also rose between 1% and 1.75%.

On the other hand, metal, pharma, healthcare and consumer durable shares ended lower.

Broader markets underperformed their larger peers as NIFTY Midcap 100 index declined 0.41% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index fell 0.21%.

Among the individual shares, Ceat shares dropped over 9% to hit a low of ₹3,471 as tyre maker’s earnings for the June quarter disappointed investors.

The RPG Group firm reported a 96.4% decline in its consolidated net profit at ₹4 crore for the quarter ending June 30 of the financial year 2026-27 (Q1 FY27). The company had seen a profit of ₹112 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

CEAT’s revenue from operations for the quarter under review stood at ₹4,318 crore, marking a growth of 22% from ₹3,529 crore reported in the first quarter of FY26.

Federal Bank shares advanced as much as 7.35% to hit an intraday high of ₹351 after it posted its highest-ever quarterly net profit and net interest income.

The bank reported a 36.57% year-on-year (YoY) surge in its standalone net profit to ₹1,176.93 crore during the quarter under review, compared with ₹861.75 crore in the first quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year (Q1 FY26), according to a regulatory filing.

Reliance Industries was among top gainers in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 2.5% to close at ₹1,328 ahead of its earnings announcement after promoters of the country's most valuable company increased their shareholding by nearly 0.5 percentage points during the June quarter through market purchases, reinforcing their long-term commitment

Tech Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Jio Financial Services, TCS, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra and Eicher Motors also rose between 1.85% and 4%.

On the flip side, Hindalco, Dr Reddy's Labs, Wipro, Sun Pharma, Apollo Hospitals, Max Healthcare and Ultratech Cement were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was negative as 2,005 shares ended lower while 1,314 closed higher on the NSE.