Indian equity benchmarks extended gains for a fourth consecutive session on Monday (August 3), with the BSE Sensex climbing 544 points to close at 78,639 and the NSE Nifty 50 surging 391 points to 24,774, its highest level in five months. According to reports from Business Standard, the rally was driven by a sharp decline in Brent crude oil prices amid easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. In four consecutive sessions, the Sensex rallied 2.44% while the Nifty jumped 3.29%. Nearly 45 Nifty 50 constituents ended the session in the green, with information technology and financial stocks contributing the most to the benchmark gains. The Sensex rose as much as 800 points during intraday trading, while the Nifty 50 index advanced 1.6% to close at its intraday high of 24,774. Market breadth remained firmly positive, with 2,358 stocks advancing, 1,027 declining, and 120 remaining unchanged, reflecting broad-based participation across sectors.
Foreign and domestic institutional investors remained net buyers of Indian equities on Monday, as benchmark indices extended their winning streak to a fourth session with the Nifty ending at a five-month high. According to provisional data from the exchanges, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹12,621.89 crore and sold shares worth ₹11,699.63 crore, resulting in a net purchase of ₹922.26 crore. Domestic institutional investors continued their buying streak, purchasing equities worth ₹18,325.97 crore while selling ₹16,754.79 crore worth of shares, translating into a net inflow of ₹1,571.18 crore. As FIIs and DIIs remained net buyers, Indian equity benchmarks extended their winning streak to a fourth straight session on Monday, with the Nifty closing at a five-month high after a sharp rise during the closing auction session under the first day of the Closing Auction Session (CAS) framework.
The Nifty Bank index jumped 983 points to 58,248, while the Nifty Midcap index advanced 764 points to 63,679. Among the benchmark gainers, Infosys, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank boosted the Nifty higher with gains of 4.42%, 3.46%, and 2.57% respectively. InterGlobe Aviation emerged as the top gainer on the Nifty, supported by a decline in crude oil prices and continued optimism over robust passenger traffic. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) surged 7.52% to close at ₹4,690, emerging as one of the day's biggest gainers as investors remained optimistic about the company's infrastructure order pipeline and strong execution outlook. IndiGo rallied 4.43% to ₹5,400, while Grasim was the top gainer in the Nifty50 index, rising 5.13% to close at ₹3,260. TCS, IndiGo, Infosys, Shriram Finance, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors PV and Dr Reddy's Labs also rose between 2.78% and 4.57%. Among individual stocks, APL Apollo Tubes and Divi's Laboratories surged about 7% after strong quarterly updates, while Ashok Leyland gained 5% following robust July sales. ABB rose 4% on healthy order inflows, and Shree Cement advanced 4% after positive management commentary and strong volumes.
Quarterly earnings and management commentary drove sharp stock-specific moves across the market. APL Apollo Tubes surged 6.71% after reporting a 10.9% rise in consolidated net profit to ₹263.1 crore on an 8.5% increase in net revenue to ₹5,606.7 crore in Q1 FY27. Divi's Laboratories jumped 6.57% after reporting a 65.50% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to ₹902 crore in Q1 FY27, with revenue growing 27.80% YoY to ₹3,080 crore. Blue Dart surged as much as 3.32% after reporting strong Q1 FY27 earnings with consolidated net profit increasing 81.2% YoY and 81.1% QoQ to ₹88.49 crore. Urban Company shares rose as much as 12.72% to hit an intraday high of ₹152 after reporting that its loss narrowed to ₹92.12 crore in Q1 FY27 from ₹6.94 crore in Q1 FY26, with revenue increasing 43.8% YoY to ₹528.34 crore. Sportking India surged 15.18% after the company's standalone net profit soared 122.85% to ₹75.97 crore in Q1 FY27 compared with ₹34.09 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
India's stock market has witnessed broader participation over the past four months, with more stocks gaining than losing each month, signalling improving risk appetite after it was jolted by the US-Iran war. For four consecutive months through July, advancing stocks comfortably outnumbered decliners, keeping the market's advance-to-decline ratio above 1 and signalling a recovery in sentiment after the initial shock from the West Asia war in late February. The ratio, a key gauge of market breadth, measures overall market participation by comparing the number of stocks gaining against the ones losing. With market breadth holding above 1 for four straight months, experts point to improving risk appetite. However, historical data suggests a sobering reality check: prolonged stretches of good market breadth have often been a precursor to weakness in the following months. Since 2021, there have been five instances when the market saw a streak of positive breadth lasting four months or longer, with the longest stretch between April 2023 and January 2024. In three of those five instances, the Sensex went on to deliver negative average returns in the following three months. The last time market breadth logged a four-month streak was during March and June 2025, with the frontline index slipping by an average of 1.3% over the subsequent three months.
The domestic currency had opened stronger on Monday (August 3), touching 95.14 against the US dollar, up around 0.25% from Friday's close of 95.39. The opening level marked the rupee's strongest since July 7, supported by lower crude oil prices, robust foreign currency inflows under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) special swap facility and continued central bank support. Among mid-cap stocks, L&T Technology Services, Jubilant FoodWorks, Aditya Birla Capital and Vishal Mega Mart were among the top gainers. However, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) tumbled 14.54% after Sebi passed its final order relating to unauthorized pledge of the company's Hyderabad land, restraining ZEEL from securities market access for two months and imposing a penalty of ₹30 lakh. Muthoot Finance fell 7.33% after investors reacted to moderation in sequential loan asset growth despite reporting record assets under management, with consolidated loan AUM growing 43% YoY to ₹1,91,532 crore. Meanwhile, Narayana Hrudayalaya dropped 5.63% after announcing Q1 FY27 results with profit after tax declining 14.59% YoY to ₹37.48 crore despite revenue growing 16.44% YoY to ₹410.98 crore. The Nifty IT Index emerged as the biggest gainer, rising over 2%, driven by strong buying across frontline technology stocks, while the Nifty Tourism Index also gained more than 2.5%. However, the Nifty Media and Nifty Pharma indices ended lower as investors booked profits after recent gains, particularly in pharmaceutical stocks following quarterly earnings announcements.
