The Indian equity market extended its positive run to a third day on July 29, aided by positive global cues, a stronger rupee and overall good corporate earnings for the June quarter.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed near the day’s high at 57,570.25, gaining 712.46 points or 1.25 percent. The Nifty ended 228.65 points, or 1.35 percent, higher at 17,158.25.

Global equity markets continued their strong rally on expectations of the US nearing the end of its rate hike cycle after the Federal Reserve recently raised interest rates by 75 basis points.

The American central bank gave interest rate guidance in the range of 3 percent to 3.5 percent, an indication that the interest rate upcycle may not last long.

“Wall Street staged a robust recovery after a shaky opening due to a contraction in the US economy, as the market perceived that aggressive monetary policy will soon come to an end,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

This added optimism to the domestic market, and the rupee strengthened against the dollar, thereby increasing the appetite of foreign institutional investors (FIIs), Nair added. The Indian rupee gained around 43 paise against the dollar.

SBI Life Insurance, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Sun Pharma and HDFC Life were the top gainers on the Nifty, rising 4.5-8.6 percent each. Dr Reddy’s Labs, Kotak Mahindra, SBI, Divis Labs and Axis Bank were the biggest losers, down 0.2-4 percent.

Among the sectors, barring the Nifty PSU bank, all sectors recorded healthy gains. The Nifty metals index was up 3.86 percent, the IT index was up 1.7 percent and auto gained 1.3 percent.

Also read: Sensex, Nifty climb nearly 8% in July as rate hike fears ease, commodities soften, FIIs return

Stocks & Sectors

On the BSE, all sectoral indices ended in the green, the metal index gaining 4.59 percent. The BSE energy index was up 2.4 percent and the oil & gas was up 2.21 percent.

Broader indices mirrored the benchmarks. The BSE midcap index gained 1 percent and the smallcap 1.38 percent.

The India VIX, which indicates the degree of volatility traders expect over the next 30 days, declined sharply by 2.7 percent from 17.01 to 16.55.

A long build-up was seen in SBI Life, Lal Pathlabs and Tata Steel, while short build-up was visible in Shriram Transport Finance, PNB and India Bulls Housing Finance.

Among individual stocks, a volume spike of close to 100 percent was seen in Delta Corp, TVS Motor and Exide Industries.

More than 120 stocks touched their 52-week highs on the BSE. These included Adani Enterprises, Adani Transmission and Ashok Leyland.

Also read:  SBI Life — Solid all-round Q1 numbers, best placed among private life insurers

Outlook for August 1

Prashanth Tapse, Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd

The positive takeaway was that the benchmark Nifty comfortably ended well above its 200-DMA at 17,025. Several momentum stocks, too, did well.

Indian equity benchmarks continued to make smart gains for the fourth day on August 1 on positive global cues, improved June quarter earnings and encouraging auto sales data.

The second-highest goods and services mop-up in and improved manufacturing activity in July also spurred the market.

At close, the Sensex was up 545.25 points, or 0.95 percent, at 58,115.50, and the Nifty was up 181.70 points, or 1.06 percent, at 17,340.

“FPIs turning net buyers is the major factor driving the uptick in the domestic market. Record low unemployment rate in the Eurozone and fall in crude oil prices, increased optimism globally,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

“Oil prices took a hit as the deteriorating demand outlook outweighed cues of ongoing supply tightness. Auto stocks were in focus post the release of positive auto sales numbers.”

Also Read: GST collection rises to Rs 1.49 lakh crore in July, up 28 percent YoY

Tata Motors, M&M, Adani Ports, ONGC and UPL were among the major gainers on the Nifty. The losers included Sun Pharma, HDFC Life, HUL, Britannia Industries and Divis Labs.

All sectoral indices ended on a positive note, with Nifty bank, auto, energy, metal and PSU bank indices gaining 1-3 percent.

Also Read: Nifty rallies 14 percent in 1.5 months to hit 17,300 points. Is it time to book profits?

Stocks and sectors

On the BSE, auto, power, and oil & gas indices gained 2-3 percent, while bank, capital goods and metal indices were up 1 percent each.

The broader indices outperformed the main indices with BSE midcap and smallcap indices adding over 1 percent each.

A long build-up was seen in IDFC First Bank, Rain Industries and Tata Motors, while a short build-up was seen in Multi Commodity Exchange of India, GMR Infrastucture and Firstsource Solutions.

Also Read: Manufacturing activity improves in July, PMI rises to 8-month high of 56.4

Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in IDFC, UPL and Gujarat Gas.

More than 100 stocks touched their 52-week highs on the BSE, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Transmission, M&M, PVR, Maruti Suzuki, ITC, Bharat Electronics and Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals.

Also Read: RBI likely to raise key policy rate by 25-35 bps to check inflation: Experts

Outlook for August 2

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities

The uptrend continues in the market as the bulls’ invasion of the 17,000-17,500 zone continues. The trend is likely to remain positive as long as the benchmark index sustains above the 200-DMA, which is placed at 17,025.

In the near term, 17,000 is likely to act as crucial support. On the higher end, 17,500 may act as a crucial resistance. Above 17,500, the Nifty may move towards 18,000.

Ajit Mishra, VP-Research, Religare Broking

This week markets will continue to take cues from ongoing earnings as well as global peers. Besides, the RBI monetary policy outcome on August 5 will be crucial for market participants.

The Indian equity benchmarks closed near a four-month high on August 8, on buying by foreign investors, falling crude oil prices and gains in auto as well as metal stocks.

At close, the Sensex was up 465.14 points, or 0.80 percent, at 58,853.07, and the Nifty was up 127.60 points, or 0.73 percent, at 17,525.10.

Amid mixed global cues, the Indian market started slow but extended gains as the day progressed and ended the session near the day’s high.

The market will remain shut on August 9 on account of Muharram.

“Sustained FII buying and falling oil prices are the major drivers for the ongoing market rally. Heavyweights played a significant role in today’s rise, while PSU banks remained under pressure following weak results of the PSB major,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

“Western markets continued to gain after strong US job numbers allayed worries of a recession. The week ahead is busy in terms of economic data with the domestic investors gearing up for the release of the inflation numbers along with the manufacturing production data to gauge the strength of the economy,” he added.

M&M, Coal India, Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco Industries and HDFC Bank were among the major Nifty gainers. The losers included BPCL, SBI, UltraTech Cement, Britannia Industries and Nestle India.

Among sectors, Nifty auto, energy and metal indices rose 1 percent each, while the Nifty Bank rose 0.8 percent.

Here are the factors that drove the market to a near four-month high:

FII buying

Sustained buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained the key driver of the rally.

After a long time, FIIs remained net buyers for the whole week ended August 5, buying Rs 6,991.54 crore worth of equities. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net sellers, as they sold equities worth of Rs 1,765.59 crore.

Falling crude

The cooling of crude oil prices was another reason for the positive sentiment. Investors, however, are cautiously watching the rising risk of a recession in the US and Europe, with crude declining over demand outlook concerns.

The NYMEX crude prices were hovering around $88 a barrel to a six-month low.

Global markets

The gains in Indian shares were also supported by strong European markets, with France’s CAC rising 1 percent and Germany’s DAX and the UK’s FTSE up 0.5 percent each.

Most Asian markets, too, ended on a positive note.

Also Read : Airtel Q1 Result | Profit surges 5.5 times YoY to Rs 1,607 crore, revenue up 22 percent

Stocks and sectors

On the BSE, auto, capital goods, metal and power indices gained 1-2 percent.

Indian shares were under pressure as market participants turned cautious ahead of the US inflation data. Gains in capital goods and metals stocks helped the market recover most of the losses to close flat on August 10.

At close, the Sensex ended 0.06 percent down at 58,817.29 and the Nifty 0.06 percent higher at 17,534.80.

“Investors were in a cautious mode in anticipation of the release of US inflation statistics, which will set the tone for the next Fed policy meeting,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. The data would be released later in the day.

“The US CPI inflation during July is projected to remain high, in line with June inflation levels. This, along with strong job data, will compel the Fed to keep taking a tough approach to reining in high inflation levels,” he added.

Hindalco Industries, UPL, Apollo Hospitals, Coal India and Tata Steel were among the major Nifty gainers. The losers included Bajaj Finance, NTPC, ONGC, HCL Technologies and Adani Ports.

On the sectoral front, the Nifty metal index rose 1.6 percent, while the information technology index shed nearly 1 percent. Selling was also seen in the FMCG, PSU bank and energy names.

Also Read: Hindalco Q1 Results | Consolidated profit jumps 48%, revenue 40% on Novelis super show

Stocks and sectors

On the BSE, capital goods index rose 1 percent and the metal index added nearly 2 percent, while the IT index shed 1 percent.

Broader market performed in line with main indices, with BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended flat.

A long build-up was seen in Tata Chemicals, City Union Bank and Hindalco Industries, while a short build-up was seen in MRF, Granules India and Samvardhana Motherson International.

Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 600 percent was seen in Polycab India, Tata Chemicals and Ipca Laboratories.

More than 100 stocks, including Coal India, Indian Hotels, Jyothy Labs, M&M, Lemon Tree Hotels, Bharat Electronics, Tata Elxsi and PC Jeweller, touched their 52-week highs on the BSE.

Also Read: Eicher Motors Q1 result | Consolidated net profit up 2.5 times YoY at Rs 611 crore; revenue jumps 72%

Outlook for August 11

Ajit Mishra, VP-Research, Religare Broking

We reiterate our bullish view on markets and suggest continuing with the “buy on dips” approach until the Nifty holds 17,300.

Global cues, earnings and upcoming macro data will keep the volatility high. Participants should align their positions accordingly and avoid contrarian bets.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

The Nifty confirmed the resilience of the uptrend by closing above the previous congestion high on the daily chart. Important moving averages are lying comfortably below the current index value, confirming the uptrend again.

The trend will remain bullish in the short term as long as the Nifty stays above 17,350. A rally towards 17,750-17,800 is likely to attract selling pressure.

Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas

The Nifty recently surpassed the 78.6 percent retracement of the April–June decline, which is near 17,500.

Although there is weakness in the short-term momentum indicators, the price action is maintaining an upward trajectory.

The Indian benchmarks ended the day largely on a flat note on August 12 ahead of the crucial economic data. Though the day was a lacklustre one, the week marked the longest stint of weekly gains since mid-January as it was the fourth consecutive week where the markets ended on a higher note.

At close, the 30-pack BSE Sensex was 130.18 points or 0.22 percent up at 59,486 while the Nifty ended the day with a gain of 39.15 points or 0.22 percent at 17,698.15.

The Sensex gained 1.87 percent during the week while the Nifty edged higher by 1.77 percent.

The market participants are awaiting the data related to IIP (index for industrial production), CPI inflation as well as GDP growth. Experts suggest that the IIP for July is expected to tank 50 percent compared to June which can cause some volatility in the markets in the coming week.

“Return of FIIs and declining dollar index aided the market rally”, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Oil and gas stocks were in focus as the government diverted some natural gas from industries to city gas operators in an effort to moderate the prices of CNG and piped cooking gas.

The global markets ended on a flat-to-negative note as the US markets took a breather yesterday after rallying on the back of better-than-expected inflation data the day before.

The Indian markets traced their global counterparts and traded in a range for a major part of the day before buying erupted on positive cues from European markets during the second half which pulled the Sensex higher.

“World stocks headed for a fourth straight week of gains on Friday as investors scaled back views on how far U.S. interest rates and inflation can climb, while oil recouped some of the previous week’s losses”, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

Divi’s Labs, Apollo Hospital, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, and Tata Consumer Products were the top losers on the Nifty with each of these stocks losing between 1.3 to 5.6 percent.

The top gainers on the Nifty were ONGC, Tata Steel, NTPC, UPL, and Power Grid Corp with each of them gaining between 2.3 to 4.8 percent.

Among sectors, Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma were the top losers of the day as each of them was down 1.15 percent at the close. Nifty FMCG ended the day marginally lower while all other sectoral indices were marginally up at closing. The Nifty Metal index rose the most with gains of 1.64 percent while Nifty Realty was up 0.65.

Stocks & Sectors

On the BSE, the BSE Oil & Gas index gained the most as it rose 2.47 percent BSE Energy index was up 2.15 percent.