Benchmarks recover from lows; IT rally lifts sentiment

Benchmark indices recovered from early losses to end marginally higher on Monday, supported by strong buying in IT stocks. The Nifty settled above the 24,200 mark after rebounding from an intraday low of 24,000.20. The Nifty IT index rallied 3.6%, led by a 5.5% jump in TCS, while consumer durables stocks also advanced. In contrast, FMCG and metal shares declined, while broader market indices ended largely flat. Investors largely shrugged off concerns over escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and instead focused on stock-specific developments amid the ongoing first-quarter earnings season.

The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 47.04 points or 0.06% to 77,616.40. The Nifty 50 index rose 4.10 points or 0.02% to 24,211.

HDFC Bank (down 0.90%), Bharti Airtel (down 0.87%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.83%) were major Nifty drags today.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index rose 0.02% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.25%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,335 shares rose and 2,068 shares fell. A total of 201 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 8.38% to 13.28.

Economy:

India's merchandise trade deficit widened to $30.43 billion in June 2026 from $19.12 billion a year earlier, marking the widest gap since January and the largest ever recorded for the month of June. Imports surged 31% year-on-year to $70.84 billion, driven by higher crude oil prices amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and additional costs linked to US tariffs targeting imports of Russian oil. Meanwhile, exports rose at a slower pace of 15.5% to $40.4 billion, supported by robust shipments to the United States as exporters accelerated orders ahead of the expiry of the current India-US trade arrangement in July, which could lead to higher tariffs.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.28% to 6.735 compared with the previous session close of 6.716.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 95.6700 compared with its close of 95.3800 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2026 settlement fell 0.94% to Rs 142,133.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.02% to 101.94.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.04% to 4.571.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for September 2026 settlement rose $2.33 or 3.07% to $78.34 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Most European markets traded higher on Monday, while Asian markets ended mostly lower as investors assessed escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Investor sentiment remained cautious after Iran and the United States exchanged airstrikes over the weekend. Tehran claimed it had targeted U.S. military facilities across several Gulf countries and announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. However, U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed the claim, saying the strategic waterway remained open to commercial shipping.

In South Korea, shares of SK Hynix fell 5% as investors booked profits after the chipmaker's stock had surged 13% in the previous session.

Overnight on Wall Street, U.S. equities ended higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.29% to 52,637.01, the S&P 500 gained 0.42% to 7,575.39, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.29% to 26,281.61.

Investors are also preparing for a busy U.S. earnings season, with major banks including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo set to report quarterly results this week. Earnings from Netflix, Johnson & Johnson and UnitedHealth will also be closely watched for clues on corporate performance and the health of the U.S. economy.

Stocks in Spotlight:

The Nifty IT index rallied 3.59% to 29,015.85. The index jumped 5.62%% in the two consecutive trading sessions.

Tata Consultancy Services (up 5.51%), HCL Technologies (up 5.15%), Infosys (up 3.24%), Tech Mahindra (up 3.24%), Mphasis (up 3.01%), Coforge (up 2.67%), Persistent Systems (up 2.63%), Wipro (up 1.68%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.68%) advanced.

LTM (formerly LTIMindtree) rose 2.25% after it has reported a 5.86% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,468.6 crore on a 2.80% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 11,608 crore in Q1 FY27 over Q4 FY26.

NMDC declined 0.80%. The company reduced the prices of Baila Lump and Baila Fines with effect from 10 July 2026. The state-owned miner cut the price of Baila Lump (65.5%, 10-40 mm) by Rs 250 per tonne to Rs 5,450 per tonne in July?26 from Rs 5,700 per tonne in June?26. It also reduced the price of Baila Fines (64%, -10 mm) by Rs 150 per tonne to Rs 4,700 per tonne from Rs 4,850 per tonne.

Fino Payments Banks surged 19.64% after the small finance bank?s average total deposits jumped 11% to Rs 2,755 crore in June 2026 compared with Rs 2,477 crore in June 2025.

Just Dial hit upper circuit of 20% after the company reported 66.2% jump in net profit to Rs 166.3 crore in Q1 FY27 from Rs 100 crore in Q4 FY26. Operating revenue for the period under review was Rs 327.5 crore, up 9.9% YoY.

L&T Finance jumped 1.07% after the NBFC reported a 28.72% year-on-year (YoY) increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 902.47 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 (Q1 FY27), compared with Rs 701.10 crore posted in Q1 FY26. Total revenue from operations jumped 22.38% YoY to Rs 5,212.92 crore in Q1 FY27.

Smartworks Coworking Spaces rose 1.35% after expanding its office mandate with the Indian arm of a UK-headquartered professional services firm. The new agreement is for 60 months and is expected to generate committed rental revenue of approximately Rs 58 crore. Combined with the existing engagement, the total expected rental commitment from the client is estimated at around Rs 102 crore.

63 Moons Technologies surged 7.81% after the company?s material subsidiary, 63SA TS Cybertech, secured an order book worth Rs 288 crore in the first quarter of FY27, achieving around 82% of its full-year order target of Rs 350 crore.

Avantel rose 1.42% after the company reported a 67.39% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 5.39 crore in Q1 FY27, compared with Rs 3.22 crore in Q1 FY26. Revenue from operations rose 35.65% year-on-year to Rs 70.42 crore in Q1 FY27.

Bajaj Consumer Care declined 1.53%. The company has reported 84.8% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 70.7 crore on a 28.3% increase in net sales to Rs 341.4 crore in Q1 FY27 as compared with Q1 FY26.

Indus Towers rose 0.71%. The company has appointed Abhishek Maheshwari as the chief financial Officer (CFO) and key managerial personnel (KMP) of the company, effective August 19, 2026. Maheshwari is a seasoned finance professional with over 21 years of experience across business partnering, strategic planning, budgeting, financial reporting, investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, taxation, compliance, internal controls, and business modelling. He currently leads the finance function for Airtel?s B2B business as CFO.

IPO Update:

As on 16:27 IST, Laser Power & Infra IPO received bids for 99.17 crore shares as against 2.55 crore shares on offer. The issue was subscribed 38.76 times.

The issue opened for bidding on 9 July 2026 and it will close on 13 July 2026. The price band of the IPO is fixed between Rs 203 and 214 per share.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News