Indian stock markets staged a strong rebound last week, with the BSE Sensex climbing 2,034.87 points, or 2.67%, to close at 78,094.64 and the NSE Nifty surging 616.15 points, or 2.59%, to end at 24,383.60. According to Religare Broking Ltd, markets snapped their recent losing streak as easing crude oil prices, improving geopolitical sentiment, encouraging Q1 FY27 earnings, and renewed foreign institutional investor (FII) buying lifted risk appetite. The rally brought both indices to 3-week highs, marking significant progress from the previous session when the Sensex ended 273.55 points higher at 77,928.15 and the Nifty up by 66.95 points at 24,317.15. The NSE's NIFTY Midcap 100 gauge advanced by 0.44% or 273.55 points to close at 62,915.30, while the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index also gained 0.44% or 85.20 points to close at 19,339.65. As per PTI, the combined market capitalisation of nine of India's 10 most-valued companies rose by ₹2.51 lakh crore last week, demonstrating broad-based strength across major sectors.
Bajaj Finance led the market cap surge, adding ₹80,345.97 crore to reach ₹7,10,817.51 crore, making it the biggest winner among the top-10 most valued firms. The NBFC's shares ended over 8% higher on Friday after the firm reported a 28% year-on-year rise in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) for the June quarter of FY27. The stock had previously hit a record high of ₹1,151.50 following strong quarterly results that surpassed analyst estimates, with the company reporting a net profit of ₹5,986 crore in Q1 FY27, marking an increase of 27% from ₹4,700 crore in the same period last year. Assets under management expanded 24% to ₹5,46,944 crore and new loans booked during the quarter grew 20% to 16.13 million. The improvement in asset quality was particularly notable, with gross non-performing assets (NPA) declining to 0.96% from 1.03% in March.
Bharti Airtel's valuation soared ₹44,959.5 crore to reach ₹12,30,005.63 crore, while TCS's market capitalisation jumped ₹40,414.03 crore to ₹8,55,894.78 crore. Reliance Industries remained the most valued firm, with its mcap climbing ₹39,447.35 crore to ₹17,69,108.79 crore. Larsen & Toubro rallied ₹21,096.8 crore to ₹5,41,844.69 crore, and State Bank of India edged higher by ₹10,845.97 crore to ₹9,47,799.81 crore. HDFC Bank's mcap advanced ₹8,164.73 crore to ₹11,52,150.63 crore, while LIC's valuation went up ₹4,427.49 crore to ₹5,37,435.05 crore and ICICI Bank climbed ₹1,660.37 crore to ₹10,29,878.30 crore. However, Hindustan Unilever emerged as the only laggard, with its mcap declining ₹10,326.46 crore to ₹4,93,602.13 crore. At the end of the week, Reliance Industries retained its position as India's most valuable listed company, followed by Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, LIC, and Hindustan Unilever.
Strong June-quarter earnings at Bajaj Finance propelled the Bajaj Group past the HDFC Group in market capitalisation, marking a significant shift in India's largest business conglomerates. A sharp rally in Bajaj Finance shares lifted the group's combined market capitalisation to ₹15.7 lakh crore, around ₹2 lakh crore higher than the HDFC Group's ₹13.8 lakh crore valuation. The shift is notable because the HDFC Group had emerged as India's largest business house by market value in December 2018 after overtaking the Tata Group. So far in 2026, the Bajaj Group has added nearly ₹1.5 lakh crore to its market capitalisation, while the HDFC Group has lost ₹4.2 lakh crore—the steepest decline among India's large conglomerates. The erosion has largely been driven by HDFC Bank, whose market capitalisation has declined by ₹3.7 lakh crore this year, while HDFC Life Insurance has shed another ₹42,000 crore. In contrast, Bajaj Finance has added nearly ₹1 lakh crore to its market value, while Bajaj Auto has contributed another ₹61,000 crore.
The strong market performance was driven by multiple positive factors including easing crude oil prices, improving geopolitical sentiment, encouraging Q1 FY27 earnings, and renewed foreign institutional investor (FII) buying. As noted by Religare Broking Ltd, FIIs bought equities worth ₹3,623.51 crore on Thursday (July 30, 2026), supporting the rally. The positive momentum continued despite some profit booking at higher levels, with analysts noting that the sustainability of the recovery will depend largely on the ongoing earnings season and reduction in global risks. The week's rally marked a notable shift in market sentiment after a period of weakness, with investors responding positively to a combination of domestic earnings momentum and improved global risk appetite. The strong performance across the top-10 most-valued companies demonstrates broad-based investor confidence in India's corporate earnings and growth prospects.
