Domestic benchmark indices delivered strong weekly performance with the BSE Sensex surging 2,034.87 points (2.67%) to close at 78,094.64, while the NSE Nifty 50 rallied 616.15 points (2.59%) to settle at 24,383.60. According to Moneycontrol, the Nifty has staged a sharp recovery of more than 760 points over the last six trading sessions, enabling it to end the month with gains of over 2% while closing near the upper end of its consolidation range. The broader markets mirrored this strength, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index gaining 2% and moving closer to its record high of 63,183.35, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index climbed 2.6% and moved closer to its 52-week high of 19,470.50. The rally was underpinned by better-than-expected June-quarter earnings, easing global uncertainties, a sharp correction in crude oil prices, improving monsoon progress, stronger-than-expected IIP data, and the return of foreign institutional investors as net buyers.
Sectoral performance was broadly positive during the week, with Nifty IT emerging as the top performer, rallying 6.75%, recording the best weekly gains since December 2023. According to Moneycontrol, it was followed by Nifty Media (5.97%), Nifty Auto (5.61%), Nifty Pharma (3.86%), Nifty Healthcare (3.20%), and Nifty Consumer Durables (2.89%). Within the IT space, The Economic Times identifies Persistent Systems, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, and Coforge as stocks continuing to display strong price structures. The Auto sector has historically been one of the strongest performers during August, ending the month in the green in 12 out of the last 20 years with an average gain of 5.30%, while the FMCG sector has demonstrated favorable seasonality with the index ending August positive in 13 out of 20 years, delivering an average gain of 2.84%. Among individual stocks, Moneycontrol reports that Coforge, Laurus Labs, Swiggy, Container Corporation of India, and Ashok Leyland led the gains, rising more than 10% during the week, while Redington, Kaynes Technology India, Firstsource Solutions, Brigade Enterprises, Affle 3i, IIFL Finance, KFin Technologies, and IFCI rallied by up to 24% in the smallcap segment.
According to Moneycontrol, the Nifty has further strengthened its bullish structure by surpassing the crucial hurdle of the 200-day EMA around the 24,370 mark. The index now appears well-positioned to inch towards the 24,600 level, which coincides with the previous swing high, and a decisive breakout above this zone could open the door for a move towards the 24,800-25,000 mark. As reported by Goodreturns, the index traded in a range with positive bias and closed around the 24,300 levels on Thursday session. The brokerage expects the index to maintain positive bias and head towards 24,370 and 24,480 in the coming sessions, with immediate support in the 23,800-24,000 zone. From a short-term perspective, The Economic Times reports that Nifty continues to trade within the 24,531–23,606 range, with the 24,600 strike witnessing aggressive Call writing and making it a strong resistance zone. Moneycontrol notes that on the downside, the 24,270 level is expected to act as immediate support, followed by the 24,150-24,050 level as the key support zone, as long as the index holds above this level, the "buy-on-dips" strategy is likely to remain favourable.
Market breadth strengthened significantly with BSE stocks showing favourable advance-decline ratio for the second straight month in July, as reported by Business Standard. The advance-decline ratio edged above parity to 1.03, with 2,482 advancing stocks against 2,416 decliners, demonstrating that the rally was strong across the board. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) snapped their two-week selling streak by purchasing equities worth ₹5,949.96 crore during the week, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) continued to lend support to the market, investing ₹5,387.66 crore in equities. According to Moneycontrol, the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies increased by more than ₹10 lakh crore during the week. Market participants will closely monitor RBI's monetary policy decision, India's Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data, along with developments in crude oil prices and geopolitical tensions in West Asia next week. The ongoing Q1FY27 earnings season is expected to continue driving stock-specific action, with Indian equities expected to trade with a positive bias as healthy domestic macros and a strong Q1FY27 earnings season continue to support investor confidence.
