Sensex Today: Markets Bounce Back After Early Dip, ICICI & HDFC Bank Lead Recovery

Key Highlights

- Sensex and Nifty recovered losses and traded higher by midday.

- ICICI Bank profit jumps 15.9 percent, lifting market sentiment.

- Reliance drops nearly 2 percent despite record earnings.

Mumbai: The Indian stock markets bounced back strongly on Monday after a weak opening, led by gains in heavyweight banking stocks like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. The Sensex and Nifty, which had dropped early in the day, recovered their losses and moved into positive territory by the afternoon session.

Early Losses in Trade

In the morning, the 30-share BSE Sensex slipped by 148.68 points, dropping to 81,609.05, despite opening on a positive note. Similarly, the NSE Nifty lost 67.55 points to touch 24,900.85 in early trade. The dip came as investors reacted to mixed corporate earnings and global cues.

ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank Push Markets Higher

Markets reversed their direction thanks to strong buying in top banks.

ICICI Bank rose over 2 percent after it posted a strong 15.9 percent rise in quarterly profit, reaching Rs 13,558 crore for the June quarter.

HDFC Bank, even though it reported a slight 1.31 percent dip in net profit to Rs 16,258 crore, also gained over 2 percent, boosting investor confidence.

These gains helped Sensex rise by 181.30 points to 81,944.67, and the Nifty climb 36.75 points to 25,009.10 by afternoon.

Other gainers included Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, and Eternal.

Reliance Drops Despite Record Profit

Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable company, fell nearly 2 percent even after posting its highest-ever quarterly profit of Rs 26,994 crore, up 78.3 percent from a year ago. The decline was likely due to profit-booking by investors after the strong results.

Other laggards in the session included Axis Bank, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, and TCS.

Global Cues and Investor Activity

Global markets were mostly positive:

- South Korea’s Kospi and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng traded higher.

- US markets had closed mixed on Friday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought Rs 374.74 crore worth of Indian equities on Friday, supporting market sentiment.

The global oil price (Brent crude) was up slightly by 0.17 percent, at USD 69.40 per barrel.

VK Vijayakumar of Geojit Financial Services said the focus now shifts to the US-India trade talks. A deal with lower tariffs could boost market sentiment further. He added that ICICI Bank showed the best Q1 performance, while HDFC Bank delivered stable results.

(With PTI Inputs)