INDICES TRADE WITH SMALL GAINS; NIFTY ABOVE 24,850 MARK

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with minor gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 24,850 mark after hitting the day�s low of 24,790.45 in early afternoon trade. PSU bank, realty and media stocks advanced while FMCG, IT and consumer durables stocks declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 91.12 points or 0.11% to 81,423.84. The Nifty 50 index rose 24.90 points or 0.10% to 24,859.75.

The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 81,908.43 and 24,999.75, respectively in early-afternoon trade.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.73% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.19%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index hit an all-time high at 55,066.48.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,413 shares rose and 1,556 shares fell. A total of 156 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India�s forex reserves jumped by $4.00 billion to hit an all-time high of $670.86 billion as of July 19, data shared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed on Friday.

According to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI, Foreign currency assets (FCAs) increased by $2.57 billion to $588.05 billion.

Gold reserves expanded by $1.32 billion to $59.99 billion, whereas SDRs were up by $95 million to $18.20 billion.

Reserve position in the IMF was remained unchanged at $4.60 billion.

Gainers & Losers:

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 2.51%), Larsen and Toubro (up 2.49%), Divi`s Laboratories (up 2.28%), UltraTech Cement (up 1.83%) and State Bank of India (up 1.50%) were major Nifty gainers.

Titan Company (down 2.22%), Bharti Airtel (down 2.02%), Cipla (down 1.87%), Tata Consumer Products (down 1.86%) and Tech Mahindra (down 1.64%) were major Nifty losers.

UltraTech Cement advanced 1.83% after the company said that its board has approved the purchase of 32.72% equity stake of the promoters & their associates in India Cements.

With the latest announcement, UltraTech Cement will become the majority shareholder in India Cements with a holding of 55.49% stake. UltraTech had made a financial investment in India Cements to acquire 22.77% equity at a price of Rs 268 per share in June 2024.

Stocks in Spotlight:

ICICI Bank added 1.26% after the bank�s standalone net profit jumped 14.62% to Rs 11,059.11 crore on 18.66% rise in total income to Rs 45,997.70 crore in Q1 FY25 over Q1 FY24.

IndusInd Bank gained 1.28% after the private lender`s standalone net profit rose marginally to Rs 2,152.16 crore in Q1 FY25 as against Rs 2,123.62 crore reported in Q1 FY24. Total income grew by 15.83% year on year to Rs 14,988.02 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2024.

NTPC shed 0.35%. The state-run power major�s consolidated net profit increased 12.33% to Rs 5,474.14 crore on 12.64% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 48,520.57 crore in Q1 FY25 over Q1 FY24.

Bandhan Bank surged 13% after the bank�s net profit surged 47.48% to Rs 1,063.46 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared to Rs 721.05 crore recorded in Q1 FY24. Total income grew by 23.53% to Rs 6,063.35 crore in the first quarter of FY25 from Rs 4,908.02 crore posted in Q1 FY24.

Nuvama Wealth Management rallied 5.62% after the company reported 79.52% increase in net profit to Rs 220.77 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 122.98 crore in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations jumped 46.58% YoY to Rs 949.43 core in Q1 FY25.

InterGlobe Aviation�s (IndiGo) fell 1.52% after the company�s consolidated net profit declined 11.71% to Rs 2,728.8 crore in Q1 FY25 from Rs 3,090.6 crore posted in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations jumped 17.31% year on year (YoY) to Rs 19,570.7 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2024.

Global Markets:

European stocks traded mixed while Asian stocks advanced on Monday, buoyed by hopes of potential interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. The battered technology sector led the gains as investors eagerly awaited the upcoming Fed meeting for clues on monetary policy.

However, Chinese markets underperformed regional peers. Sentiment towards China remained subdued ahead of crucial economic data releases this week. Additionally, lingering uncertainty about the next U.S. administration`s stance on Beijing weighed on investor confidence.

The positive momentum in Asia was fueled by a strong finish on Wall Street on Friday. Easing inflation concerns boosted expectations for eventual interest rate reductions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.64%, the S&P 500 climbed 1.11%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.03%. This upward movement was attributed to a combination of oversold conditions, a better-than-expected GDP report, and growing optimism about the Fed`s potential rate cuts.

Investors also digested the latest inflation data. The June Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed`s preferred inflation gauge, rose 0.1% month-over-month and 2.5% year-over-year.

While the Fed is expected to maintain interest rates unchanged at its meeting on Wednesday, investors will closely monitor any hints about the timing of potential rate cuts, especially given recent encouraging comments from Fed officials.

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