Stock Market Today: Sensex Jumps Over 450 Points, Nifty Crosses 24,400

Stock Market Today, July 6: Indian equity benchmarks traded firmly in positive territory on Monday.

With banking, realty and auto stocks powering the rally, while gains were capped by continued weakness in information technology shares. At around 11:10 am, the BSE Sensex was up 464.80 points, or 0.60%, at 78,228.71, while the NSE Nifty50 rose 144.70 points, or 0.60%, to 24,415.55.

Realty, Auto And Banks Drive Markets Higher

Buying was broad-based across sectors, with the Bank Nifty advancing 0.63% to 58,305.20 on the back of strong gains in private lenders.

HDFC Bank led the Sensex gainers with a 2.80% rise. Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Electronics (BEL), Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Maruti Suzuki also posted healthy gains.

In contrast, Kotak Mahindra Bank slipped more than 3%, emerging as the biggest laggard on the index. IT stocks remained under pressure, with TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra among the top losers. Bajaj Finserv and Power Grid also traded in the red.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Realty surged 1.86%, followed by Auto, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and Metal. Nifty IT declined 0.90%, making it the weakest-performing sector, while Media, Pharma and PSU Bank indices also traded lower.

The broader market remained resilient, with the Nifty Midcap 100, Smallcap 100 and Nifty 500 trading in positive territory. India VIX rose marginally to 11.83, indicating that market volatility remained contained.

Defence Shares Extend Gains

Defence stocks witnessed fresh buying after the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved capital acquisition proposals worth nearly ₹52,000 crore.

Paras Defence and Space Technologies jumped more than 5% in morning trade, while Bharat Electronics, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders also advanced. The Nifty India Defence index climbed over 1%.

The DAC, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for a series of procurement proposals aimed at strengthening the armed forces. These include anti-drone electronic warfare systems, Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) systems, Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) systems, Very Short Range Air Defence Systems (V-SHORADS), active protection systems for tanks and jet-powered kamikaze drones.

Investors Eye June-Quarter Earnings

Investor attention is now turning to the June-quarter earnings season, which begins this week and is expected to set the tone for the markets in the coming weeks.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said a revival in the monsoon and renewed foreign institutional investor (FII) buying have improved near-term sentiment.

He expects overall earnings to remain subdued due to the impact of higher energy prices and geopolitical tensions in West Asia. However, he believes financial companies and automobile manufacturers are likely to deliver relatively stronger results, supported by healthy credit growth and robust vehicle sales. The IT sector, on the other hand, is expected to post modest earnings with cautious management commentary.

Vijayakumar added that buying on market dips continues to be a favourable strategy for investors.

Asian Markets Trade Mixed

Elsewhere in Asia, market performance remained mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s FTSE China 50 traded higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225, South Korea’s Kospi, Australia’s ASX 200 and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite slipped into negative territory.

US stock futures were also mixed, with Nasdaq 100 futures outperforming, S&P 500 futures trading slightly higher and Dow futures remaining largely unchanged.