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Informist, Friday, Jul. 17, 2026

By Arundathi A R

MUMBAI – Bulls took charge of the domestic equity market Friday and indices closed with solid gains, despite escalation in the West Asia war and a rise in crude oil prices. Though domestic indices ended the week with marginal gains, they managed to close the week's last trading day with over 1% gains. The Nifty 50 index closed above the 24000 level on Friday, which saw the highest closing level for the whole week.

In the latest development, the US launched a new round of strikes against Iran for a sixth consecutive night. "US Central Command (Centcom) said the attacks were intended to "further degrade Iranian military capabilities", before saying it had boarded a vessel as part of its blockade of Iranian ports," according to a BBC report. At 1511 IST, the September futures contract of Brent Crude oil was nearly 2% higher at $85.57 a barrel. The contract has gained nearly 13% in the whole week, and almost 10% in the past seven days.

Vigorous buying of information technology and banking stocks largely supported the index. The Nifty 50 index settled at 24334.30, up 261.55 points from the previous close. The BSE Sensex ended at 78151.45, up 964.58 points from Thursday. However, broader market indices were unable to clock such gains. All broader market indices closed 0.2–0.6% lower. Most sectoral indices gained, with the Nifty Private Bank and Nifty IT gaining the most. On the other hand, the Nifty Pharma shed the most. India VIX closed 2% higher at 13.1500 points.

While Indian equity indices gained marginally in a week's time, select major Asian indices fell sharply during the week. South Korea's KOSPI fell nearly 9% in the week and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.5%. Taiwan's TAIEX lost over 5%, while the Nikkei 225 shed over 6% in a week.

Tech Mahindra turned out to be the biggest gainer among its peers in the Nifty 50 index. The stock ended with over 4% gains after the company detailed its June quarter earnings post market hours on Thursday. The company's bottom line for the quarter rose over 28% on year and over 8% sequentially. Its net sales rose nearly 18% on year and over 4% on quarter. Its peers Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, and Infosys ended the session 1.3–3.1% higher. The Nifty IT index ended with nearly 2% gains.

Among the indices tracking sectors, the Nifty Private Bank ended as the highest gainer, up over 2%. Banking and financial services stocks were also major gainers in the 50-stock index. Kotak Mahindra Bank and Jio Financial Services were up over 3% each. Shares of Jio Financial rose after the company's consolidated net profit for the June quarter more than doubled on year and its total revenue for the quarter increased over three times. 

A nearly 2% rise each in Nifty 50 heavyweights ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank also supported the index. Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank also closed nearly 2% higher each.

Automobile stocks were also the major ones among the pack of index gainers. Mahindra & Mahindra and Eicher Motors clocked almost 2% gains each. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Bajaj Auto gained over 1% each. The Nifty Auto index rose over 1%, with most of its constituents gaining for the session.

Reliance Industries was up over 2% ahead of its June quarter results later in the day. The company is expected to overcome all cost and logistical challenges emerging out of the West Asia crisis. It is likely to post a net profit of INR 190 billion for the quarter, up nearly 5% on year.

Federal Bank, up nearly 7%, settled as the top gainer in the Nifty 200 index. The bank's net profit growth for Apr-Jun was the highest in 12 quarters, on the back of a healthy rise in its net interest income and a fall in provisions. Its net profit was INR 11.77 billion in the June quarter, up 37% on year but down 7% on quarter. Eclerx Services and Authum Investment & Infrastructure were the major gainers in the Nifty 500 index, up 9.9–12.5%.

Pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks shed the most in the 50-stock index. Dr.Reddy's Laboratories was down over 1%. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Cipla, Max Healthcare Institute, and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise were down 0.7-0.9%. The Nifty Pharma index was down over 1%. Hindalco Industries was the key drag in the index, down 1.6%. The Nifty Metal index lost 0.5%.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals was the top loser in the Nifty 200 index, down 4.5%. Hitachi Energy India and GE Vernova T&D India were down over 4% each.

CEAT was the key drag in the Nifty 500 index, down over 7%. Shares of the company fell after it missed the Street's expectations for its June quarter net profit and sales. The stock fell after rising for the past two sessions. CEAT reported an over 27% on-year fall in its net profit for the June quarter at INR 980 million. This was way below analysts' expectation of INR 1.06 billion. Its revenue for the reporting quarter, however, rose over 18% on year to INR 41.63 billion. The top line for the quarter came slightly below the expectation of INR 43.64 billion.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 37 rose, 13 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 24 rose, 6 fell

* On the NSE, 1,314 stocks rose, 2,005 fell, and 100 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,722 stocks rose, 2,500 fell, and 193 were unchanged
* Nifty Private Bank: up 2.1%; Nifty IT: up 1.8%; Nifty Pharma: down 1.4%

BSE                                          NSE

Sensex: 78151.45, up 964.58 points or 1.3%   Nifty 50: 24334.30, up 261.55 points, or 1.1%

End

US$1 = INR 96.28

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Avishek Dutta

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