“Asian shares were trying to end the month on a firm note on Monday in a week littered with major economic releases, central bank meetings and earnings updates from mega-caps Amazon and Apple, though rising Japanese bond yields posed a risk,” reported Reuters.

Last week, the US Fed and European Central Bank hiked rates. Investors now await outcomes of the Bank of England (BoE) meeting this week and RBI monetary policy next week. While BoE may raise rates by 25 bps, experts expect the RBI to hold interest rates steady in the upcoming meeting.

Stock market today

After opening nearly flat at 66,156.39 against the previous close of 66,160.20, the Sensex rose 438 points to hit its intraday high of 66,598.42. The index finally closed with a gain of 367 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 66,527.67 while the Nifty rose 108 points, or 0.55 per cent, to close at 19,753.80.

Reliance Industries, TCS, Infosys, HDFC Bank and NTPC ended as the top contributor stocks to the gains in the Sensex index. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ITC and Bajaj Finance ended as the top drags on the index.

Mid and smallcaps outperformed the benchmark. The BSE Midcap index rose 0.86 per cent to end at 30,419.75 after hitting its record high of 30,440.32. The BSE Smallcap index also hit its fresh record high of 35,039.71, before ending the day with a strong gain of 1.31 per cent at 35,002.32.

The overall market capitalisation of the firms listed on the BSE rose to ₹306.7 lakh crore from ₹304.2 lakh crore in the previous session, making investors richer by ₹2.5 lakh crore in a day.

As many as 331 stocks, including Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Power Grid Corporation, DLF, Bharat Forge, Hero MotoCorp and Lupin, hit their fresh 52-week highs in intraday trade on BSE.

Crude oil prices rose amid reports that oil inventories are falling in some regions due to healthy demand amid supply cuts.

“Oil inventories are beginning to fall in some regions as demand outpaces supply constrained by deep production cuts from OPEC leader Saudi Arabia, providing support for prices which are expected to rise in coming months,” reported Reuters.

Benchmark Brent Crude traded about half-a-per cent higher near $85.45 per dollar around 3:55 pm.

(More to come)

Updated: 31 Jul 2023, 03:56 PM IST